Return To Life
by Motofan713
Summary: Hinata made a promise to Yui in the afterlife.  What if he were given the chance to make good on that promise?  And what obstacles will stand between them on their way to happiness?
1. Prologue: Awaken

Hello everyone, Motofan713 here.

This has been a plot bunny that's been wracking my brains for the past couple of weeks now since I finished watching Angel Beats! with my college's Anime Club. Ever since finishing the series, I wondered what would happen if Yui and Hinata's relationship were to be given a chance in real life, and so this popped into my head. Beforehand, I would like to apologize for the rather short length of this first chapter, as I couldn't really add much more to it without it spilling over into the next section of the story. So, without furthur ado, here's **Return To**** Life.**

He smiled, replying; "Count on it."

Tears trickled gently down her face as she whispered; "I'm glad that…" She never finished her sentence, as she vanished from view.

Yusuru drew slightly closer to Hinata. _So that's what it took for her to pass on… I can only hope Hinata takes it alright. Maybe this really is the way it's supposed to be; at least it feels that way. H_e asked; "Is this for the best?"

Hinata stood silent for a second, a calm, content look crossing his face as he replied; "Sure was."

Otonashi wasn't so worried about the fact that Yui had just passed on, but moreover what effect this would have on Hinata, now that he was left behind. "So what now? What will you do now?" he asked, hesitantly.

His reply came quick; "I'll help out 'till the end, there are some people here I'm still worried about." _Myself included_, he added as an afterthought. "They can't be at peace until they're…"

Otonashi understood. "… I see…" _Well then, 'till the end buddy._ And with that said, Otonashi and Hinata slowly walked away from the baseball field, leaving the equipment there in a way similar to a memorial for Yui, not wishing to completely forget her quite yet.

Meanwhile…

A slight rustle. The sounds of birds chirping interlaced with the steady, humming drone of cars passing by. The sterile smell along with a slight warmth permeated her conscience as she became aware of her existence. Yui slowly opened her eyes, letting them adjust to the growing light in her face that was slowly gaining in intensity. As she let her eyes adjust, she moved her head slightly to the left, letting her hair cast shadows upon her eyes, effectively shielding her from the glare, allowing her to survey the room she was in more closely. She recognized it as the local hospital, and if she wasn't mistaken… _Yup, there's the spire, same place as last time_, Yui thought to herself, which meant that she was in room 508, because the last time she could remember being here, that spire had shown out, just as it was now, with its odd angle, seemingly penetrating the sky with its spear-tip, which she knew to end at 110 feet (or at least that's what the pamphlet set into the door said). She chuckled quietly to herself. How ironic to end up in the same room she had occupied all those years ago, immediately after the crash that took away the one thing that at the time was her most prized possession. Her mobility. Even now, she yearned for the chance to walk again on her feet, to feel the grass beneath her toes, to be able to run with the carefree abandon she never had the chance to indulge in while in her childhood.

She took a slow, deep breath in an attempt to gather her bearings once again, when her eyes happened to chance upon something she hadn't noticed immediately. Something was sleeping fitfully, with its arms crossed at the foot of her bed, its head resting precariously on its crossed arms. It took Yui a few moments to garner up her thoughts and figure out why this figure in front of her was so familiar.

_Hmmm, shoulder length dull red hair, it even kind of looks like me… I wonder why it's so familiar-looking to me? It looked like it hadn't slept in days, if its disheveled appearance was any indication. Maybe I should ask my mother about it lat-oh._ Yui then realized that she was looking down at her mother. She snickered slightly as she realized she had forgotten what her mother looked like, which quickly turned to stifled giggles, which then turned into full-blown laughter. Whilst in the middle of laughing, Yui was so consumed by the giddiness she was experiencing that she failed to notice the person at the foot of her bed had already awoken and had a melancholy look upon her face.

"Yui…" her mother said, her eyes welling up with tears. "Yui…"

This immediately snapped Yui out of her happy mood faster than a cat out of water. "Yeah mom, what's up?" she asked, a hint of a confused expression crossing her face. Then, out of nowhere, her mother jumped out of her chair and bear-hugged Yui almost as if in one motion, and then proceeded to bawl her eyes out. Yui, at a loss for words, and feeling a bit awkward at the moment, fruitlessly attempted to console her distraught mother. "Mom, mom? Mom, it's alright, I'm here…" Yui spoke as she wracked her brains in an attempt to figure out what could have caused her mother to unravel so severely. As she pursued this, her mother's sobs slowly subsided into sniffles, though the stream of tears stayed constant throughout. She lifted her head to look Yui in the eyes.

"Do you not remember anything? Anything at all?" Her mother asked, disbelief and despair thickly laced her words as they left her.

Yui, still trying to remember, turned to her mother and replied somberly, "No, I guess I can't remember a single thing. Why, what happened?" Her mother stayed silent. Yui started to worry, so she asked her; "mom, what's-"

Her mother mumbled into the sheets she had thrown her face into. "What was that mom?" YUI asked, slightly on edge. Her mother, even when her first accident occurred had never lost it so completely before, which meant something bad was about to be divulged.

"I said, you were blindsided by a car on the way to your weekly check-up…" Her mother had started to cry again. " You were thrown at least 50 feet out, where you slammed against a, a… a…" Yui could tell she was struggling to keep herself together at this point.

"Against a what, mom?"

"Against a wall. There was steel reinforcement sticking out in a couple places, and it… it went through your back, and, and… and you were stuck there, above the ground, hanging by those…" And so her mother proceeded to break down once again. As she grasped Yui desperately, Yui was somewhat distanced from the current situation, trying to remember what exactly happened that made her wind up in this hospital again. _Well, as ironic as that is, it does explain why I'm in the same room again…_ Yui thought, as she looked down upon the weeping form of her mother. _A car, huh?_ Yui thought, _I'll bet I never saw _that_ one coming…_ as soon as her thought finished, her mind whisked away to another portion of her memory, the one in which the accident occurred.

She remembered it clearly now. Yui and her mother had been leisurely taking a stroll towards the doctor's offices a few blocks from the train platform they had just emerged from. From a distance, she heard the muted scream of a 6 cylinder engine racing down the boulevard some ways off to her left. She wasn't worried though, she was currently on a relaxing ride over to the doctor's why should she bend over backwards frightened of something that was never going to happen? Her memory skipped forward to when the crash actually happened. The walk light had just turned on, and Yui was one of the first people crossing the busy 4-way intersection. That was when she heard that mechanical wail again, but closer, much closer. Still not entirely perturbed by it, she kept her eyes straight ahead, eagerly awaiting her visit with Dr. Komagashi. However, right as she was about to finish crossing, a black coupe came roaring across the pavement, it's rear wheels churning white smoke from underneath. _ A drifter? Cool, I've only ever heard about these guys, that must be really hard, I WANNA LEARN_. Her mind thought, but as she finished the thought, the car struck her wheelchair, sending her flying. The last thing she could recall was the wall looming close behind her as her trajectory shot her towards the ground. And then, suddenly a blue-haired boy's face rammed into the forefront of her mind, and refused to vacate. He was wearing a khaki-colored suit, with the symbol 'SSS' stitched on the left shoulder, his hair was relatively long, but well kept, his sloping shoulders giving way to a thin abdomen, which therein led to a set of long, athletically thin legs. But her focus was mainly on the eyes. They were deep, and showed caring and devotion far surpassing any look she had ever received from a guy her age before.

_What the- Who is this guy? _She asked herself, wondering why her first memory after that would be of a guy she had didn't even know…

"Yeah, mom. I remember." Yui finally replied, as she continued to watch her mother wring herself dry beneath her. But the only thing truly on her mind at that time was this- Who was that blue-haired boy, and why was he the first thing she remembered? These thoughts racked her brain for the better part of an hour, and then she decided that she needed to sleep, so she simply shut her eyes and drifted off, falling into a dreamless sleep…

A/N: I will attempt to have another chapter up by the end of this weekend, however that may have trouble coming to fruition due to some _ahem_... circumstances (college exams and homework, grrrr). However, I will do my best to keep this story churning.

Motofan713


	2. Chapter 1: The Procedure

Hello once again from Motofan713.

This chapter took me quite a bit longer than the last one, as it should have, it's five times larger...

Anyways, we all know the drill... I don't own Angel Beats! or any implied properties. However, any original characters I do lay claim to. That's about it...

It was 3 a.m. Yui was tossing and turning in her bed, her 'dreamless' sleep quickly evolving into a nightmare. All she knew was that she had to keep running, because if she didn't, her dark pursuer would catch her, and it would be all over. As she gauged her surroundings, she realized that she was on the grounds of some school-like building complex that, although she couldn't recall it for the life of her, seemed familiar at the same time. This was later proven by the fact that as she rounded the corner of the gym, she know there would be an unlocked door that she could swing in and out of before her pursuer would see her. She opened the door, threw herself inside, and quietly, but quickly shut the door off from her attacker, hoping to all things higher than herself that she wouldn't be found. As she prayed, she wormed her way through the surrounding piping and ductwork, attempting to put as much distance between her and the door as possible before her attacker got smart and realized that she had had gone through the door. As she finally finished flitting back and forth, the door at the other end burst open forcefully, revealing her attacker. She was being chased down by some sort of shadow, and try as she might, running away simply wasn't working. It was slowly gaining on her, regardless of how fast she was running. She watched as the shadow simply passed through all the obstacles it had taken Yui minutes to get through pass by in mere seconds. "No fair!" She screamed, and she burst through another side door heading towards the track field. And then the worst possible thing happened. Her legs started slowing down of their own accord. She tried to keep them going, but it was as if they were turning to bags of sand, and each step was costing her more and more effort just to stay upright. But just as before, through all this, the shadow steadily gained on her until it was right on top of her, and started to engulf her body. Yui screamed out for help, but realized that no one was going to come to her rescue. As her final moments dwindled down, she watched the world dim away from her sight. As she was fully consumed, the last words to escape her lips were "Hinata, please…" And then, just as she was about to be consumed…

Yui's eyes shot open of their own accord. She sat there, stunned, for minutes on end, staring at the ceiling, wondering just what had happened. She had dreamt that, hadn't she? _But then why did that fear feel so real?_ _And who's Hinata? I don't think I've ever met anyone by that name yet…_ Yui thought to herself, still processing the darkness around her. As the room's outlines began to take shape, she contemplated what would happen in the upcoming hours, as she mentally ran over what her doctor had told her about what she'd gone through.

According to Dr. Komagashi, she had originally lost enough blood to black out while still trapped on the wall. Once medical personnel had arrived, she had been taken to the ICU where her wounds were then sewn together. However, as she had lost over 2 pints of blood, she was transfused for over 2 hours before her blood pressure had returned to an acceptable pressure. Her heart had steadily failed until it stopped in the ICU, where she underwent an emergency cardiopulmonary bypass in order to keep her blood flowing and minimize the amount of brain damage, if there was any. It had been a tense five hours, where her body had underwent over 300 stitches, as well as multiple stimulant drugs in an attempt to get her heart pumping once more. However, the drugs had taken their toll on her, if her skin tone was anything to go by. The drugs administered to her were of the variety which tampered with the pigment in her skin, causing it to turn a pale gray, making it look more like dull marble than human tissue. They had also left her with a lethargic disposition; turning her head seemed to require so much energy it was hard not to faint from the effort, much less keep conscious for any extended period amount of time. But that was the sum of her problems according to Dr. Komagashi. She had nothing else to worry about. She let her head sink into the softness of the pillow, content with the fact that everything was alright and conceded to herself that she had nothing to worry about.

The truth, however, was no laughing matter. As it turned out, that wasn't all that had happened.

After taking a closer look at her injuries, Dr. Komagashi had come across an unexpected complication in Yui's condition. In her crash, the discs in her back had slipped and realigned themselves in the few microseconds upon impact with the wall. However, this wasn't the major concern. When probed further, Komagashi quickly realized just how serious of an incident this was, and had all his best medical staff meet in a nearby staffroom in order to come to a decision about Yui.

_**2 weeks prior, 32 hours into operation**_

This was not looking good. Not only did Yui have a failing heart, she was paralyzed to boot. But what he'd just discovered had him rethinking that last part of his previous thought. Komagashi paced the front of the staffroom, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the rest of his colleagues. _If I hadn't seen it for myself…_ Komagashi thought it had been too late for the poor girl. Her heart had given out, and didn't seem to want to start kicking anytime soon. She was also paralyzed from the neck down since early childhood to boot. He'd almost given up on her and given her the relief to the next existence she so rightfully deserved. _If anyone, she deserves to be rid of this mess her life's become. I mean, how much more should she take before it's enough? Hasn't she already been through enough as it is?_ Komagashi thought, distressed over the fact that he couldn't decide if he should relieve the dear girl from her harsh life, or stick with her and run with what he saw as the first huge break in her life. _But if I screw this up, it'll be all for nothing, and then what? Live her life in total disappointment? What kind of fulfilling life would that be? Wouldn't it be better just to end her suffering right now? _Komagashi asked himself, still pacing. A few seconds later a sound registered in his mind that pulled him from his current string of thoughts.

"Hmmm?" He asked, looking out to the small group that had gathered with him in the staffroom. It seemed everyone he had asked to come was there, waiting for him to begin. Komagashi rubbed the back of his neck as said nervously: "Oh, sorry. I was lost in my own train of thought for a minute there." He looked down, ashamed at himself. _I call all these people here and what do I do? I get lost in my mind. What a great doctor __I__ am_, he thought to himself.

His right-hand man and life-long best friend Mensaijo Kohryu stood next to him, speaking in a voice only Komagashi could hear: "Don't worry, we understand and forgive you; this isn't an easy case for any of us either, so it's understandable you'd be nervous at the onset." He told him, putting a comfortable arm around Komagashi's shoulders in a friendly gesture used since their primary school days. Komagashi visibly straightened, smoothed himself over, and addressed the small group in front of him.

"As many of you know, I've a house patient that I've been looking after for the past twelve years or so. She is the one who was involved in the Katsumei incident over a decade ago. She is also the one who was hit by the car just outside of our hospital the day before yesterday. Right now we have her in the ICU due to heart failure and multiple puncture wounds. As of this moment we have her in cardiopulmonary bypass, but I'm not sure just how much longer we can keep her in this state if her condition doesn't improve. However, that's not the most important issue at the moment. Right now, as we speak, her spinal discs are realigning themselves to their former position; the one which her body has adapted to due to her paralysis. However, as of right now, we have a two to three hour window of time in which to rectify that mistake. If you will please direct your attention to the MRI images on the backlight to my left" He pointed out the areas of interest as he continued, "You will see that instead of the restricted, twisted tunnel in the photo taken a year ago, a straight one in its place, which can allow us to take action right here and now and repair the nerve damage my patient has received due to her accident she endured twelve years ago. We have the personnel, the equipment necessary, and right now," he gestured the group in front of him, "the manpower necessary to make this possible. While she may never walk again, at least she will be able to move all of her upper body and portions of her legs as well. It is my wish for my patient to be given the gift she's been denied for far too long." Komagashi took a moment to regain his breath before charging right back into his explanation. "You all have been summoned here by me because you are the best in your respective fields. You all can help make this girl's dream a reality. What with the expertise in handling delicate organs, mastery of nerve reparation, and excellent recovery doctors on hand, we could quite possibly do something that's never been done before, because this has never happened before." Komagashi finished, trying to gauge the reaction of his associates, hoping beyond hope they might be swayed to help him in his endeavor.

Surprisingly, it was Dr. Kohryu who spoke first. "Everything aside, is this plausible? Granted, I'm not against this, but we do have to consider our own limitations. You say we only have a window of two to three hours tops to do a procedure that would normally last between ten and fourteen hours under the best conditions. Not only that, but this is in an area in which no medical documentation for this kind of operation is in existence, to the best of my knowledge. Also, you do realize the risk you're taking, right? If this doesn't go through and ends up falling apart, that will be quite a few hospital dollars spent, and although we aren't running out of funding anytime soon, it will put a rather large dent in our budget, regardless of how this turns out."

"That is the precise reason we cannot fail!" Dr. Komagashi replied, his voice straining. "If we do this, and it works, we will not only be the first documented case in the modern world, we will save the life of a girl who more than deserves to saved form the fate she will face if we don't do this."

Another doctor raised his voice towards the front. "Suppose we were to go through with this. What are the specifics of the case, and the possible complications? We can't just go into this with no idea of what we're facing. But besides that, I believe it's possible. Highly risky, high chance of failure, but still possible."

Dr. Komagashi needed answers, and soon. He knew his window of opportunity would soon open, and he needed to be as prepared as possible before that window opened. So he decided to do something rash. He spoke up. "Alright, I need to know right now. Who is willing to take this on and help me? If you wish to not take part in this I understand. This could very well be an exercise in futility, and not worth the risk. If that is the case, then I ask you excuse yourselves now. I don't want to drag you farther into something that you aren't comfortable taking part in."

He watched, expecting the worst. But he was pleasantly surprised. All but one doctor stood their ground. Only Dr. Roruko turned to leave. He walked to the door, but before leaving, he turned, addressing Komagashi:

"You know Komagashi, I would be more than happy to take this procedure on if I were a bit younger and still had claim to my old optimism and hopefulness. But I've seen too many situations like this turn out for the worse, and I don't want to go through another one of those anytime soon. I'm sorry, but in my old age, I get weary of hopelessness, I don't know if I could take another failure…"

Komagashi nodded in understanding. Being a doctor for so many years left a mark on you, a different way of looking at life than those of a different profession. He could sympathize with him, if only a little bit as he realized he had a ways to go before he would have the life experience to rival this man's; "It's alright Dr. Roruko, I understand, even if only a little. It doesn't make you any less of a man by declining this procedure. I'll see you afterwards." He told Roruko, as he watched him push through the glass doors in departure and give him a wave of recognition. _We'll just have to manage without him somehow…_ Komagashi thought to himself.

Turning towards those who remained, he started explaining his proposed procedure to them. "Alright, so first off, we'll have to make incision on both sides of the spinal column, which will allow us to Insert the…"

_**Same day, 1 hour and 37 minutes later**_

He looked down upon the gently resting form of Yui. She seemed so at peace with herself that one would never know the personal hell she'd been through just by looking. Yes, he'd heard about her experiences with public school, and he'd been shocked to the core when they revealed themselves upon him. He had a nephew who just around the same age as Yui, who'd had bad experiences in the first few years of primary school, but had since then been slowly working his way into the general scheme of high school life. He was on his school's baseball team, where they'd almost won their prefectural tournament. But that was beside the point right now. He had a life to save and reconstruct on his hands at the moment, which was why he had both a scalpel and a petri dish labeled 'STEM' in his hands. He set his tools down and signaled for the rest of his associates into the operating room along with himself.

"Alright, we just have to wait for the last disc to- oh, there it goes. Time to get to work."

And work they did.

The operation went as smooth as possible (what with all the rushing and precision-timing of each step, each incision, each injection), and as far as Dr. Komagashi was concerned, it went off without a hitch. Not to say that there hadn't been roadblocks that they'd had to dodge along the way. It wasn't every day you reconstructed someone's spinal cord. They had started out with making a long incision down the length of her spine, then put diaphragm spacers between the bones and the discs, and another longitudinal diaphragm to keep the entire spinal column from snapping out of alignment during the procedure, thus allowing them the ability to open up her spinal cord and begin the technical portion of the procedure. This was where Dr. Kohryu took over. He took his syringe and micro-pliars, and deftly worked his magic upon the nervous overlay laid out in front of him. He squeezed the syringe slightly, extracting ten or so stem cells at a time from the syringe, and with the micro-pliars, precisely positioned them for maximum healing effect, allowing them to overlay the damaged nerve endings laid out in front of him. His portion took him a great deal of time, as this was a one-time deal. Either he got it right or he didn't. It was as simple as that. Komagashi looked on as his best friend placed droplet after droplet of potential repair into Yui's spinal cord, essentially giving her life back to her a drop at a time. It was the most painstaking 40 minutes of his life.

40 minutes later Dr. Kohryu slowly got up, walked over to the bench, and set down his tools. He signaled Dr. Komagashi back to him, showing him his handiwork; "What do you think?"

Komagashi took an good, long, in-depth look at Mensaijo's handiwork. It was a considerable amount of time before he answered. "Looks the same as it did before, why?" He asked, somewhat put-off by Kohryu's question.

However, Kohryu just smiled and replied: "That's exactly the answer I was looking for."

After Dr. Kohryu finished, Komagashi made a gesture for all the other doctors to fall in. "Alright, the hardest part's done. Now comes the most critical. Now all we have to do is release the diaphragms in the precise way as to make sure her back stays properly aligned. Otherwise all our efforts will be wasted, and she'll have to go back to her less-than-average lifestyle." It would later be noted that Komagashi in his entirety changed that moment. Some would say that he became set, others that he caught a mad, determined gleam in his eyes. But all of them remembered precisely what happened next. "We can't let that happen, understood?" Komagashi's inner struggle surged to the surface as he confronted his fear with the operation. "We have to get this right the first time. For her. For her future." With that said, he moved over to Yui and looked down at her still form once again. "She deserves better than this…" He said, mostly to himself, "And we're going to make it happen, I know it! We will! We have to!" By this time Kohryu had his arms on Komagashi's shoulders and was gently turning him around to embrace him. Kohryu only had to look in Komagashi's face for a moment to know exactly what was on the young doctor's mind. "Mensaijo, I know I can do this, we just need to make it right the first time. I know it's possible, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to get this far. It's just… I… I just don't want her to end up like Kokuru… I can't go through that again…" Tears streaked down Komagashi's face as Kohryu's memory flashed once again to the time in his life that had encompassed Komagashi's late daughter.

Kokuru had been a bustling, rambunctious little bundle of energy that had become the absolute center of his friend's world. Komagashi had loved her with every fiber of his being, and when they had been ripped apart from her accident, Komagashi had sunk into what seemed to be a bottomless depression. Regardless of whatever counseling he had gone to, there seemed to be no way to get Jamek to come out of the funk he'd put himself in. It had hurt him so much that he completely distanced himself from his wife, and had inadvertently almost caused their marriage's demise. Thank goodness Kohryu had intervened in time.

It had been about 8 months after Kokuru's death, and Jamek's depression had spiraled out of control. Granted, he still performed top-notch at the hospital, but he was severely lacking the sincerity and warmth that he'd became famous for within the hospital. He no longer visited the children's section of the hospital, and they severely missed their time with him, as it made their time in the hospital that much easier to bear, especially with the seriousness of some of their illnesses. He stopped spending time in the break, preferring to spend as much time as possible engrossed in his work in order to forget the pain caused by the loss of his daughter. And it was taking its toll on him. Mensaijo had had enough. He took the initiative, and cornered Jamek, deciding to finally get to the root of the problem.

Jamek was appropriately surprised when his back suddenly pet the unforgiving concrete of the wall behind him. Even more so when his glance returned to eye level and Mensaijo's eyes were staring back at his with such a ferocity that it scared him.

"Mensaijo, what's going on?" Komagashi asked, perplexed as to why his best friend would be so angry.

"You tell me, Jamek." Mensaijo's voice was laced with venom. As Mensaijo continued, Jamek found himself subconsciously shrinking against the wall behind him. "You've been so cold to everyone lately, and I'm getting sick and tired of your shit. This isn't you, this is just some idiotic, self-pitying, emotionally unstable brat walking around in a doctor's suit, pretending to help people when he can't even help himself to get over a death that happened eight months ago." By this point Mensaijo had gotten so far into the face of Jamek that Jamek could feel the heat and humidity of Mensaijo's breath, which was coming violently out of his now grimacing mouth.

Jamek immediately took offense to this. Mensaijo was talking as if the death in question was just the death of some pet fish or something, not his only daughter, who he was still supposed to be bringing up as they spoke. "And just what the hell would you know about that? Do you have a dead child Mensaijo? Do you?" He didn't give him a chance to answer. They both knew the answer to that. "No, of course not. So what gives you the right to talk down to me like you've already gone through all this? Huh? Wanna riddle me that one?" Komagashi lashed back, grief ripping his throat apart as he replied.

Mensaijo looked off to the side, then asked: "Do you remember Kaname from fifth grade?"

"…"

Jamek was so thrown off by Kohryu's comment that he was speechless for a moment, mouth bobbing back and forth like a fish. When he finally found his voice, he immediately retorted: "And what the hell does that have to do with Kokuru?"

"Answer the question."

"Why don't you answer me first? Tell me what she could possibly have to do with Kokuru."

Mensaijo's voice dropped and picked up a dangerous tone. "You'll just have to find out, now won't you? Now answer me. Do you remember?"

Jamek, finally conceding to the fact that sooner or later he'd have to answer to the question, he replied impatiently: "Yes."

Mensaijo's eyes locked with Jamek's as he asked him another question. "Do you remember what happened to her? Come on, think, you know this…"

Jamek racked his mind, trying to find the answer he was seeking. The name itself seemed familiar, and the face that went with it, but for some reason he couldn't figure out why they stood out so starkly in his memory, or what their importance was. "Yeah, I remember the face and the name, but even so, what's she got to do with my daughter?"

Mensaijo's eyes popped out of his head. _You've __**got**__ to be kidding me. He remembers nothing?_ "Do you remember nothing Jamek? She was the first girl that I ever went out with- at least, up to fifth grade. You really don't remember any of this do you?" He was answered by Jamek slowly shaking his head from side to side. "Well then, it seem you need a refresher. October 20th, 1993. A girl by the name of Kaname Tsukuba was involved in a building collapse, which caused 5 injuries, but no deaths other than hers. I loved her, and she was taken away from me right at the time I really needed her. And then you popped into the picture, and-"

It was all coming back to him now. Jamek remembered the reports from the following morning, and how everyone was subdued at school, but no one quite as much as Mensaijo. Mensaijo hadn't even wanted to speak with him, much less socialize or even hang out. It had been the loneliest three weeks of Jamek's life, being able to be with his best friend, but never really _being_ with him, more like just co-existing in the same general area. Jamek, getting angry at Mensaijo's blatant refusal to acknowledge his best friend, Jamek had cornered his best friend after school and proceeded to 'knock some sense into him' – or at least that's what he'd believed it to be. But it had opened Mensaijo's eyes to make him realize what he had right in front of him.

And that's all that Mensaijo was trying to do. Return the favor, and pay back the debt he himself incurred.

With all this in mind, Jamek asked to no one in particular: "Have I really been such a bad person?"

"No, you've just become lost by trying to cope too hard. There are a lot of people who depend upon you, and look to you for guidance, a lot more than I think you're aware of." Mensaijo replied.

"But how do I get out of this? I still love and miss my Kokuru… I mean, how am I supposed to move on? It's not like I can just move on in a day…" Komagashi stated, his eyes glazing over.

"No one said you have to. It's a gradual process that will take however long you need. Trust me, it wasn't easy to let go of Kaname, and, to be honest, I still haven't forgotten about her… But life goes on, and so, in time, you will too." Mensaijo drew Jamek close to him. "Don't forget about her, but don't let her dominate your life, either. Ghosts have a way of becoming more incredible than the person they represent." Jamek understood that well, and now that he looked back on it, it was true.

"So where do I go from here?" Jamek asked, perplexed as to what his next move ought to be.

"That, my friend," Mensaijo replied, "is up to you. You determine your own pace, but if you ever need a nudge in the right direction, I'll be here. All you have to do is ask." Mensaijo released his friend, nevertheless staying within arm's reach.

Jamek felt something begin to uncurl inside of him. Although he couldn't quite place the feeling inside of him, he felt the tension in his body slowly start to release, and it felt good. Then it clicked.

He finally felt comfortable. And that was all that mattered.

"Alright guys, you heard him, let's get this show on the road." Mensaijo barked. Everyone gathered themselves and stood over Yui's body, all hunched over, anxiously awaiting their turn in the final part of the procedure.

So it continued for the better portion of two hours, letting the discs and vertebrae lock together properly, and then sealing her back together, all the while still hooked up to the cardiopulmonary bypass machine. It had strained them all to their last nerve, but once they were done, a great sigh of relief passed through everyone's lips. Now all that was left was for Yui's heart to beat once again. Once that happened, everything would work itself out.

Then the miracle occurred a few days later. It happened just as Jamek was gearing up to head on home. He had just happened a glance in her direction when he sensed something was off about her. He walked towards her, not quite sure why he'd become so apprehensive all of a sudden. But soon enough he found his answer. Although there was no accompanying sound, all he had to do was look at the monitor and his answer was laid out right in front of him. Her heart was there, pounding away, just like he'd hoped every day since he'd finished the procedure on her spine.

At that moment, happy was nowhere near good enough an adjective to describe how he was feeling. He was above ecstatic, beyond elated. At that moment in time he was hovering on some plane far higher than anyone else around him. He had finally succeeded in the one area he thought he never could. He had triumphed over what had plagued him for so long. Although it'd taken the death of his daughter, and that same risk of Yui, he'd finally found a treatment for spinal damage.

Yui awoke once again, checking the clock. It was close to 9 a.m. now, time for her to call her nurse. So she slowly turned her head, using her nose to push the sensitive keypad. As she waited, she realized that something was wrong with her. She was itchy. Granted, her body itched all the time; she had become used to the sensation. But this was something completely different. It was like she could feel her arms' discomfort, but ten times more intense. She took the time to look down at her arms. They were in a different position than she'd left them earlier that morning. Dismissing it as a doctor's slight mistake, she turned her head back to face front and resigned herself to waiting.

Soon enough a nurse came waltzing into her room. As she checked Yui's vitals, Yui piped up.

"Umm, my arms itch and I don't see my mother around anywhere… Do you think you could help me, please?" She asked, a pleasant smile on her face.

The nurse turned to her and returned the smile, saying: "Why of course dear, just let me finish this little report first. Don't want to disappoint my boss, you know…" Yui knew what she was referring to; she'd been through this routine before.

The nurse finished her report, then proceeded to set down the clipboard, and walk over to Yui.

"Alright, so where's the itch?" the nurse asked, rolling up her sleeves.

Yui looked down for a second, then answered: "Both of my arms, right up to the elbows. They're itchin' like crazy here!" Her comment drew a smile from the otherwise serious nurse, and she got to work. However, as soon as she touched Yui's arm, it retracted forcefully to Yui's body, slamming into her.

The nurse was properly stunned. Yui, however, was getting excited.

"Wow! Look! It moved! Hey nurse, do it again, that was really cool!" Yui was practically beaming. _Holy crap, that was the __**coolest**__ thing I've seen in awhile._ While Yui continued along this train of thought, the nurse, completely unnoticed by Yui, was staring at her without regard, mouth agape, expressionless.

_Is this really happening? Did the procedure really work?_ At a complete loss for words, the nurse simply backed out of the room, a clear destination in mind as she began quickening her pace down the white halls.

I'll get right on the third chapter right away... as soon as anime club finishes tonight... Till then, enjoy these two chapters.

Motofan713


	3. Chapter 2: The Escape

Okay, so I know it's been forever since I posted on here. I am a shitbag, no excuses. However, I do have some explaining to do.

Originally i was going to post this back in february of this year, but the Boot Camp came and reared its ugly head by making me go 4 weeks early. Hmmm... Then, after 8 weeks of torture at the United States Naval Recruit Training Command in Chicago, Illinois, I was shipped To Naval Nuclear Power Training Command In Charleston, South Carolina. Cool, right? No. It was worse than college ever thought of being. First, I went through Nuclear field A-school, which is where I learn the specifics of my rate in the navy(If this is too many unfamiliar terms, please reference something related to NNPTC or Naval Education. It'll be able to explain it better than I can. But yeah, A-school was a bitch. That was only three months. Then I was sent through Nuclear Power School, where I learned more than I ever expected to know about operating a Nuclear-powered Naval Submarine that I ever thought possible. Simply put, Nuclear Power School takes 2.5 years of MIT-grade Core Nuclear, Mechanical, and Electrical engineering degree material, and stuff them into our brains in the span of 6 months. Nuclear power school is supposedly one of the hardest, if not the hardest schooling to pass in the US, but I could be wrong. Either way, I passed, and now you are reading from the keyboard of Petty Officer 3rd Class Crusan, Nuclear Machinist Mate, United States Navy. Yeah.

Anyways, what with all the training I received, my brain simply didn't have enough space or energy left to creatively think, or write. But, now that that's over, I'm finally free to let my mind wander aimlessly throughout the day as I do my job, and hopefully the creative juices will start to flow once again. This is why I apologize if this chapter isn't up to par with the previous two, I'm just letting you know beforehand.

and now on to the standard disclaimer: I do not own Angel beats, any of it characters or properties implied, or any of Key's original ideas. If there is any correlation to anything Key may have done or is currently doing, I apologize, as this is not intentional. However, anything else, such as the way that I twist this story, any auxiliary characters I may come up with, or any good use of the English language i propagate as my own. And now, go ahead and enjoy the short treat I've thrown together in two hours...

The first thing he felt was the slight prickle along the back of his neck and the slight breeze wafting across his face, carrying with it the scent of –_Is that turf?_ Hinata thought, blinking open his eyes… The first thing his sight registered was the blueness directly in front of him, undisturbed, majestic, and sparsely dotted with the occasional cluster of clouds. Then his peripherals started to come in. He noticed that there were guys surrounding him, all wearing the same clothing. _Odd, _he thought,_ you'd think they'd have some sort of fashion sense or at least some sort of individuality… but, oh well… what do I know?_ That was when his hearing started to register, picking up high-pitched noises that rose and fell in volume. He soon recognized them as belonging to his team, but a team of what? _Teenagers, misfits, delinquents, maybe? Why was I even associated with this crowd of idiots anyways? Did I get off on being about as out-of-place as possible..? Hmm, no, there must be some other purpose to these people… maybe they owe me something… hehehe, I could get them to become my minions…_ Hinata reasoned… not entirely sure what to think of the small crowd rapidly gathering around them. _Whatever. It's none of my business anyways…_ And with that said, he promptly closed his eyes and began the process of ignoring everyone around him. It worked for about 10 seconds or so before someone roughly shoved him. _Fuck, can't leave me alone, can you…_ Now that they'd aggravated him, they'd see the beast that was and always will be Hideki Hinata. The chosen few who'd witness the earth-shattering event that is Hinata pissed off either revered him as a god or avoided them as if their life depended on it, which in most cases, it did.

Hinata slowly sat up, making sure to utilize every core muscle he had to ensure they were in good proper working order. He'd most likely be using them to beat the living sense into whoever these people were. That's when his hearing finally shot into 1080p. He finally understood them, and what he heard had him speechless.

"Dude, I think Hinata's gone deaf or something…"

"Is the hearing portion of the brain up front? I thought that was critical thinking or something like that…"

"Nah, he's just screwin' with everyone. Besides, if he couldn't hear us, then why is he getting up? We were asking him to do it for almost five minutes… Maybe his hearing just wasn't registering or something… that ball did hit him pretty damn hard on the head."

"Yeah, still managed to catch it, though…"

Hinata had had enough of their petty conversation. He was going to set something straight right then and there. He opened his mouth. "Hey." The entire group stopped talking all at once. They'd only heard Hinata use that tone of voice a few times since he'd joined the team. They were in for it, at the very least. "If you mind, would you all stop talking about my miraculous arrival back to consciousness and tell me what in the hell is going on here?" He narrowed his eyes, looking for a weak target. He found one within seconds and cornered on the poor boy. "So, you gonna tell me what happened, or am I going to have to slowly rip it from your voice?" Hinata asked, his eyes gleaming for a moment.

"uh, um, uh, I uh, I don't really know Hinata, it's just that I wasn't looking when it happened, um, yeah." The poor boy crouched down in a defensive stance, whimpering; "Please don't hurt me…" the boy finished almost in a whisper.

"_And what exactly happened, my good friend?"_ Hinata asked, slowly advancing on the poor boy, his eyesight going red. _Why won't he tell me anything, god damnit!? This is getting more frustrating by the moment…_ "WELL!? What is it?" Hinata lowered his frame until his face was level with that of the boy's, where he took to staring at him intensely.

Finally the boy turned in his direction, and answered him. "You were hit by the ball and collapsed. We all thought you'd had a concussion until someone checked you. You weren't breathing, man. And your heart stopped, too. I mean, crap, Rick was pumping away for a good two or three minutes before your heart beat again. Then you started to breathe, and everyone gathered around you to see if you'd wake up, and you did! And then you got up and got pissed off and here we are pleasedonthurtme!" The boy finished, curling up as he finished his last sentence. Hinata's eyes lost their gleam as he was left to ponder just what had happened. He tried to remember just what had taken place in the last few minutes of his life. He remembered the ball heading straight for him, and as he raised his mitt to catch it, he… he… what did he do, exactly? Hinata, confused, shook his head, deciding to brush off the thought for later.

"Hey, Adam?"

The boy uncurled ever so slightly. "Yeah Hideki?" He asked, his eyes still fear-laden.

"Thanks. I've just had a rough past few minutes, if you know what I mean… and sorry for snapping at you earlier, it's just that I'm so disoriented right now that I can't quite make sense of what's around me." Hinata extended his hand to the frightened young man. "Come on, bro, we still got a game to win…"

Adam reached for Hinata's hand, pulling himself up. After dusting himself off, he replied: "but dude, your catch won us the game. There's no need."

Hinata was taken aback for a few moments. _Well, it seems that even when I'm dead I can still catch. What a comforting thought…_ Hinata shook his head, clearing it once more to come back to reality. "Well then, how's about we celebrate to our victory?"

Adam's eyes filled up with hope as he looked up at his teammate. "Are you serious!?" He asked, knowing of Hinata's famous victory celebration at the local ice cream parlors. Somehow the kid just always knew the best places to go for any given situation. And if he was paying… _I am so piggin' out!_ "Yup." Adam squealed in delight as his mind ran over all the delicious options he would have the pleasure of choosing between.

Hinata shook his head at his teammate's excitement. He tossed his arm over Adam's shoulder, both of them walking back to where the team was still celebrating, their cheers rejuvenated by Hinata's return to consciousness. But there was still something nagging at the back of Hinata's mind even as he joined in his team's celebration. He decided that once he returned home he would spend some quality time mulling it over with himself. But not now. Now was about the team.

_**4 hours later…**_

Hinata entered through his front door, closing it quietly behind him as not to disturb anyone within the house's depths. He untied his laces and slipped his cleats off, stowing them in the closet closest to him. As he migrated towards the stairs, a dark blur entered his peripherals and before he could defend himself, he was thrown to the floor. As he gathered his bearings, he realized that he'd been attacked by a human female. His mother, to be exact. _Oh shit, she must have heard of what happened today. Great, now I'll never get any alone time…_ "Uh, hey mom. What's new?" he asked. He mentally facepalmed. _Good going Hideki, does lack of foresight even cover it?_ He asked himself, shaking his head at his own stupidity. He looked down his chest at his mother.

She slowly lifted her face up to look him in the eyes. Tears were gushing out of her eyes, thoroughly soaking his shirt front, but that wasn't what he noticed. He could see the pure hurt and anguish pouring out of her soul, which humbled him and closed his mind on anything he'd originally planned on saying. She finally spoke: "Do you- you know how worried I've bee-" and she erupted in sobs, collapsing on top of Hideki, who was still dumbstruck. Slowly, he rose until he was sitting upright, and started to comfort his mother, his hands following a path which he consciously didn't know of, but it seemed to do the trick as it gradually calmed her to where her chest wasn't heaving very often anymore. He waited a bit longer and spoke gently to her. "Mom, it's ok. I'm here, I'm alive, and that's all that matters. It's not worth it to dwell on how close one came to death. If they're still here, then why not enjoy the time you have with them still? Mom?" He asked, looking down at her.

She bore a slight smile. "It's not that simple, Hideki." She turned her face towards him, and sat up by herself before continuing. "While what you said may be true," She reached over and touched the left side of his chest, "there is a bond between mother and child that transcends anything I or you could understand. It's the same bond that ties me so strongly to your father as well. And, well, whenever you two get hurt, it hurts, deep. I can't explain why, nor do I want to, but it's there, I feel it. And in time, you will too." Her smile grew ever so larger as she bent forward to kiss him on the forehead. Afterwards, she held him close, enveloping him in her arms, which he imitated. "Don't ever treat death like it's nothing, Hideki, for even in death there are important things we can take away from such experiences..." She stood up, soon followed by her son. "Now how about some Udon noodles for tonight, hmmm? I've been wanting to have them again since forever ago, and I can't quite remember the last time that I made them." With that said, she wandered off into the kitchen, slowly twirling the way he'd always remembered her to do.

_Went better than expected…_ Hinata thought to himself. _Well then, time to go to my happy place._ He walked into the garage. And there in front of him, right where he left it, was his workbench. And beyond it, the greatest pastime he'd ever come across.

He ran his hand slowly over the gel-gloss finish of his bike, stroking his fingertips across the Cherry-Red finish shining back at him. His eyes slowly traveled along its curves, soaking in every detail, every last mark of engineering prowess the bike's creators had bestowed upon it. His right hand went to the twist-grip throttle, slowly feeling out the play again as if it'd been years since he'd done so. His gaze dropped to the side of the gas tank, slowly reveling in the sight of the painted decal filling his field of vision. It read; _**Ducati Monster**_. Yes, he'd taken great care of her ever since he bought her new off the showroom floor. It had always somehow calmed him whenever he went astraddle with his bike, as he was right now. He slowly slung his foot over the seat, bending down to sit fully into the black leather that cushioned his weight. His left hand went to the handlebar, clasping the foregrip, fingering the clutch a little, flexing and extending his fingers, remembering the slip point, and slowly releasing. He closed his eyes as he let his memories take over, allowing the images of Suzuka, Tsukuba, and Motegi to enter his subconscious as he felt his way around the motorcycle, engaging and disengaging the clutch, rolling on the throttle, ratcheting through the gears. It felt natural, soothing, even.

He left himself in this state for a few minutes, simply doing what he'd been doing since a young child, something he hadn't realized he'd missed. And then, when the image began to recede, he opened his eyes. Now, since no one was bothering him, he could finally focus on what the back of his mind had been nagging him about the entire day.

_Ok, so obviously something happened to me, and I was technically dead for a few minutes. I wonder what happened in between those few minutes that I perished? Did I just exist in the in-between? Or was there something else that happened? Something important, maybe? Something I really enjoyed? God, what was it?_ He asked himself, wracking his brains out in a vain attempt to understand what his subconscious was trying to tell him. He still didn't have a clue as to what he was trying to remember.

After about ten minutes sitting like this, he realized that it was fruitless to try and find the answers here where there was nothing to jog his memory. So, he set down the kickstand, leaned over, and set the bike down. As he started to move, he realized something rather important. _Shit, there's school tomorrow… I bet I'll have to clean my blazer before I leave, too…_ He looked up at where he always hung his blazer, right above where he displayed all the trophies he'd accrued over the years. It was still there, and somehow still pristine-looking. _Huh. Well, that's a welcome surpr-_

Immediately his mind was yanked to a memory of a school he'd never been to before, and he saw a flash of pink, and a shadow over his shoulder. He moved to turn his gaze and then…

Just like that, the memory, or whatever it was was over. _What in the hell…?_ Hinata asked no one in particular, confused as all get out. _What was that, and why did I look over my shoulder?_ He then thought back to the flashback and realized something he hadn't picked up on his first time through. _Why was I wearing a cream-colored blazer? My school's colors are red and black. This isn't making any sense, I'd better sleep on it and come back to it another time…_

He shot through the door, heading straight for the kitchen. "Yo, mom. Is dinner ready?" he asked, anticipating what was around the corner.

"Yeah, you're just in time! I made them right, come try some!" As he rounded the corner, a billowing cloud of water vapor rose up before him, clouding his view for a second or two. Once the fog cleared, he saw his mother with a bowl full of noodles, and the smell emanating off of them was fantastic!

_**Meanwhile…**_

She slowly raised her eyes.

_Daw, crap! I'm still here! When are they gonna let me go!?_ Yui silently asked, pondering why the doctors were still so insistent upon keeping her here at the hospital, even though she'd been fine for a day and a half. Slowly, since she'd woken up, she'd been gaining more and more motor controls, especially in her arms and upper body. Her legs, however, weren't quite up to the task yet, but she had promised herself that she'd stay hopeful, if at least for a while longer. _I will regain use of my legs someday, I know I will! I just have to figure out how…_ And so, she'd fixated upon this mantra for the last couple of hours, willing her legs to move by sheer force of will. But, it was to no avail. As far as her legs were concerned, she was getting nowhere fast.

And yet…

She was still so ecstatic over the fact that she'd gained use of her upper body that she'd already started experimenting with what she could do. According to the doctors, her muscles had atrophied after the many years without use, so she was very weak. However, she was learning what her limitations were, and she was quickly thinking of what she'd do with herself once she was let go. _I'm gonna work out until I'm as strong as Mr. Big Show from that American show!_ She decided, allowing a devilish smirk to cross her expression. But then, her mother entered, wiping the thought from her mind.

"Hey mom! What's up!" Yui asked in her usual ecstatic manner. But her mother's demeanor quickly darkened her bright mood, even through the small smile that shone through.

"Honey, there's something that I need to tell you. Something that you're not going to like…"

Yui noticed immediately that her mother was distressed. Yui at that moment wanted nothing more than to take away her mother's distress, but curiosity got the best of her. "What is it mom?" She asked, centering her focus upon her mother.

"The police that took up the case of your accident now have a lead on who hit you. They're starting to bring in people for questioning, and they want you to come in to see if you can identify any of them as being part of your accident. I-" her mother involuntarily swallowed as a chill ran down her spine at the thought of that prospect, nevertheless she continued: "…I don't believe that you're ready for this, but they're bound and determined to have you do it right away. I-"

"Mom?" Yui asked, looking her mother in the eyes.

"…yes?" She replied weakly.

"I think I should go."

"What!?" Her mother asked, showing a bewildered expression. This she had not prepared for. True, she may be a very gentle person by nature, and she most certainly held a rather soft spot for her only daughter, but she could become a hard and unforgiving force of nature should the circumstances call for it. She may not still be the bull-headed youth she once was, but she could still recall her old iron will at any moment, and once she was fixated on her goal, there was no stopping her; not in this life or the next. And by Kami, or whomever may reside in the existential plane above her, she would not let her daughter go through this. She knew all too well what it could do to someone's confidence, their sense of esteem, their internal drive, their sense of life that makes everyone who they are. She would not let this drain away at the bright force that was Yui. She was too much a necessary constant in her life, one which she needed in order to continue, and if her daughter withdrew into herself, Kami knows there'd be hell to pay from the one who did it to her. She dropped her gaze so her bangs were hiding her eyes. "No Yui, you can't go." She replied with an air of finality.

"But mom, why not? This way I can see the man who gave me this good fortune." Yui replied. Then she looked her mom dead in the face, and started to laugh. Her mom had a look of complete shock written all over her face, and with the way her mouth was bobbing open and closed, she looked like a… "FISH!" Yui exclaimed, bowling over in laughter, which only grew as her mother's expression of utter confusion only intensified. "Mom, stop. Please, ahahahaha-!" Yui couldn't control her laughter anymore and let loose. She was now crying since she was laughing so hard. And the more she confused her mother, the more comical it became, until she started gasping for breath. It had now been three minutes, and the local nurses had gathered at her window to see what happened to be so funny. Still, her mother hadn't said a word.

Given another few seconds or so, and Yui had calmed herself down enough to engage her mother in conversation once more. "But seriously mom, you don't have to worry about me slipping into depression or anything. Besides, the worst that happens is that I see the guy who did this to me. Then he goes away for a long time and I go back to how I was beforehand. Hooyah!" Yui exclaimed, fist-pumping the air.

Her mother facepamled. _Dafuq..? _ Her mother wondered, shaking her head slowly, knowing that there was nothing she'd be able to do when her daughter became _this_ ecstatic about something.

With an exasperated sigh, she shook her head, still disbelieving how well her daughter had taken to the idea of identifying her potential attacker. However…

It still did get her out of the hospital… and Yui had become more and more restless the longer she was inside. Who knew, maybe ID'ing the suspect and getting her out of the hospital might be the best thing for her yet. But she wouldn't give up yet, no.

"Yui, what happens if the person who did this to you is someone you know? Or someone that you may like? What then? Do you think you could handle sending someone like that to their doom? What if it was me? Could you handle sending me to jail? because let me tell you, unlike many people think, it's hard to deal with the person that's done something like this to you."

Yui contemplated this. What would she do if it was someone she knew? This was most certainly something that she'd never had cross her mind before. She'd always assumed that it would be someone she didn't know, someone she wouldn't feel sorry for. _This complicates things… But justice must be served regardless, and Officer Yui will do her very best to see it is carried out, that I WILL!_ She decided internally, hardening her inner self, mentally preparing for what may come. "Mom, I think that even if it is someone that I know it won't affect the way that I feel about what they did. No matter who it is, they should have thought about what they were doing before they did it, and if they're someone I know, well, it'll suck, but I think I'll be able to move on." With that said, Yui's facial expression set. She had taken her stance on the subject, and she wasn't backing down.

_Oh well, I tried to warn her… We'll have to see who shows up…_ Yui's mother let herself relax, residing in the fact that her daughter knew what she was doing. "Alright, then I'll just have to get you out of here, now won't I?" Her mother asked, walking over to the closet.

Yui's eyes popped out of their sockets, "ARE YOU SERIOUS!? I'M GETTING OUT OF HERE!?" She exclaimed, overly excited at the prospect of leaving the hospital, even for a few hours.

"Yes. And hopefully," Yui's mother walked back out of the closet, wheelchair in hand, speaking; "for good." She walked it over to her daughter, who was patiently waiting. She wheeled it up next to Yui, who smiled and reached out towards her mother with both of her arms. Her mother extended hers as well, locking together in an embrace as she transferred Yui from the bed to the wheelchair.

As soon as she was done, she walked behind the wheelchair, grabbed both the handles, and promptly left the hospital, along with an overjoyed Yui. As she left, a small smile grew upon her even as tears began to form streams upon her face. _I will never forget this moment_, she thought happily, _I haven't hugged her like that since she was a little girl…_

They eventually wound up at her car, and proceeded to get in. Yui helped as her mom transferred her from the wheelchair to the seat, and then buckled herself in for the first time in almost 13 years. "Mom, hey check this out. I'm doing this again! Jeez, how long's it been since I did this, I'm like a weak squid or something!" She exclaimed, now frustrated with the fact that she was having trouble with the seat belt. "But don't you worry mom, I will get stronger, I swear! I'll get so strong that even Mr. Cena will be able to look at my guns and say _DAYUM!"_ And with that said, Yui had her face set, and now it looked as if she were bound and determined to do just that.

"Alrighty then, we'll just have to see about that now won't we?" Her mother said, strapping herself in as well as she inserted and turned the key to start the car. The engine turned over and came to life, signaling both of them that it was time to go. Yui looked at her mother, who did the same. "Alrighty mom, let's do this!" Yui smiled at her and set her gaze outside the window, continuing her favorite pastime.

Her mother put the car in drive and the slowly pulled away from the hospital, hoping to never return…

_**Elsewhere…**_

The sound of a finely tuned Italian V-twin Broke the tranquil calm of the mid-evening with its furious, boisterous roar. A young man, aged almost 18 years, was astride the beast, eating up the asphalt upon the windy mountainside at a blistering pace, seemingly paying no heed to his surroundings. But upon closer look, the reality was anything but.

Hinata had always come out here to Fujimi Kaedo to relieve his tensions, whatever they may be. Granted it was a good hour from his home, but he was more than happy to make the trip if it meant he could ease the turmoil within his mind. He weaved deftly round the corners, transferring seamlessly from one side of the bike to the other, throwing his weight around and leaning into the turns with a furious energy. He could feel the road come up on him every time, getting ever closer to his skin-tight racing clothes, but never touching. He felt each blast of wind as he struck his body out on a tangent, only to pull it back into his bike's slipstream but a moment later.

He personally loved doing this. He could listen to Dutch scream (Every bike has character… This just happened to be the name that I named my Ducati Monster…) and whistle as he railed her as far as she would go, singing in a mechanical symphony that never failed to calm him. He ripped open the throttle, letting out Dutch's throaty roar, only to snap it back a moment later and apply the brakes, listening to Dutch moan and whistle as she wound down into the next curve.

But, try as he might, he simply couldn't calm his mind. True, he was in a much more lax state that he'd been in all day (riding a bike will do that to you), but he was still far from being fully calm as he'd like to be. He finally decided to pull over and give Dutch a breather, she'd more than earned it tonight. He rolled up to the edge of the gravel run-off, and cut the engine, silencing Dutch for the time being. He dismounted, turned off the key, locked the front wheel, and took off his gear, setting it astride the seat. He walked towards the guardrail, and when he reached it, placed his hands upon it, letting his weight transition to his arms for the moment.

He ran it through his mind once again. Every time it'd start out the same. He'd see the tan blazers, a group of people whom he'd never seen before, who acted as if they were friends, some shadows that moved in an eerie way, and then a flash of brilliantly pink hair and a school uniform and then…- nothing. It was as if everything after that were somehow cut off after that, and he had no more memory after that. Normally he'd chalk it up as a dream, but dream would pass through his consciousness once, maybe twice, and then move out of his subconscious into nothing and he'd never remember them ever again. But, for reasons yet unknown to him, this dream was overstaying its welcome and wouldn't let him out of its clutches, which was why he was confused. For some reason it felt so real, as if it had actually happened to him, and yet… he couldn't ever quite recall experiencing any of it. _This is pointless. If I keep this up, sooner or later I'm going to break and go insane from trying to figure this out. I'll just have to keep this on the backburner for a while, see if any of my surroundings triggers anything, or if nature can provide a hint or a step in the proper direction. Until then, I'll keep focused on what's really important._ He looked back at Dutch. _And right now, what's really important is that I get back home at a decent time so that mom doesn't think I've gone off and killed myself…_

Hinata walked back to Dutch, put on his gear once more, and started off towards home, awaiting his arrival back home, wondering what might cause him to trigger a memory.


	4. Chapter 3: A Glance, A Conflict

_**A/N: Sorry this has taken so long to post... I've tried to write and rewrite this portion of the story over and over again, trying to get the right kind of flow that I'm looking for, but, well, I've edited it almost 15 times, and it still seems to want to work against me... oh well...**_

_**for those of you that have followed this story since the beginning, thank you so much for your time and patience and understanding so far. It's just the fact that the start of this story was rocky, and I couldn't find a good way to make it flow, so I had to chop at it and hope that it sounded good. Fortunately, the next portion of the story is starting to flow much easier, so hopefully the updates will be coming at a much faster pace. I'm thinking something along the lines of every Friday night, so long as I can help it. And, hopefully the chapters themselves will be at least 7-8000 words long at the very least. These short chapters are proof that I'm having a tough time getting this story to take off.**_

_**I don't own anything except my own characters, plot vices and manipulation of the story.**_

_**Enjoy.**_

_**The next day...**_

"…_meet me in outer space… we could spend the night, watch the earth come up… I've grow tired of that place, won't you come with me? We could start again… HOW DO YO-"_ Hideki hit the snooze button, thus muting the music from his improvised alarm clock, which read _**0605**_. Slightly opening his eyes, he lowered his arm back down to his side, blinking as he attempted to clear the sleep from his consciousness. Blinking again, he looked to his left, where his school uniform laid upon a hangar, crisp, clean and freshly ironed to near-perfection. _Note to self; remember to thank mom for ironing the uniform…_ he thought, a slight smile taking form upon his features.  
>Yawning and stretching with his arms over his head, he proceeded to work out all the knots that had formed in his back muscles from the previous night's sleep. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he reached up and brushed his azure locks out of his line of sight as his gaze rested upon the nightstand next to his dresser. Upon it lay the typical teenage mess consisting of his jeans that he'd worn the day prior, along with those socks he'd gotten a few weeks back from the store, still held within their clear plastic container, waiting to be unsheathed and worn. Joining those articles of clothing was a sport watch, a lamp, a set of nondescript headphones, and a picture frame. Within it laid a picture, one which held a great memory of his childhood. It showed Hideki aboard his first motorcycle, a Kawasaki KX65, with a big grin on his face, along with his parents in the background, cresting one of the many jumps on one of his favorite tracks. <em>Ahh, <em>he thought; _those definitely were the days…_  
>A small wave of nostalgia swept through Hideki as his mind poured through the memories of his days racing motocross, as he revisited all those races, the hardships, the victories, and the frustration running through all those seasons. He'd been a rather tough competitor, earning the nickname 'Rhino', which became his butt patch, which is what most of the competition saw as he always seemed to be in the front of the pack regardless of how horrible his starts were. Battling through the pack to get up to the front was oftentimes how his races ended up, where he'd be contest for one of the top three spots in the last moments of the race. He'd ended up doing this so often that other racers had come up with a supplementary nickname for Hideki, <em>The Stalker<em>, reminiscent of one Mike LaRocco, who was currently racing over west with the best in the world in the AMA Supercross championship. Hideki remembered how he'd always used the idea that he could someday be good enough to run with the big boys over in America and show his worth with the best in the business.  
>However, his dreams had been cut relatively short two years prior when his father had lost his position as the Chief design Engineer at Kawasaki Motor Corp., and since then had settled down into a much less prestigious job working as a design test engineer in the suspension department of Toyota's compact car division. While not making nearly as much as he had before, his father was still capable of affording the average lifestyle his family enjoyed living out in the country home he'd bought nearly 20 years prior. Hideki was still able to enjoy riding, but he was no longer able to race professional as he had been, considering that they couldn't afford the replacement parts for the bike that they'd need throughout the season. So, Hideki had resigned himself to simply knowing that if circumstances had been different, he definitely would've at least had a shot at racing overseas, and perhaps being a contender, but in the meantime, he'd taken up a different sport to pass the time until the day where he could potentially reignite his passion for racing into one of his kin… <em>not that <em>that's _going to happen anytime soon… at least, not with the luck that I've had so far._ Hideki thought, taking a deep breath, and halting his rather pleasant train of thought, deciding that for now, getting ready for the day of school ahead of him was more important than reliving his past.  
>Rising fully out of his bed, he ran his hands down his arms, rubbing the feeling into them as he headed towards the shower to fully wake himself up. As he traipsed towards the washroom, his eyes performed a rudimentary scan of his surroundings, as they always did. His gaze swept across the rest of his room, landing upon his table as he crossed the room. His eyes fixed upon his deskworkbench on the far side of his room, upon which lay a half-dirtied shop towel, along with a set of metric wrenches, and the unfinished engine sitting in the block stand where he'd left it. All that was left to do was slip the head gasket on and put the cylinder head on top of it. Hideki remembered that the day before his, well …interesting_ game_, he'd been engrossed in finishing his top end replacement of the engine on his KTM 150SX. He recalled tearing the bike apart and pulling the engine and gearbox out of the bike and dragging them both up to his room whence he could tear it apart and work his magic upon the Austrian-engineered piece of mechanical art.  
>As he passed the workbench, and slid through his room's doorframe, he rounded upon the linen cupboard immediately to his right, and grabbed a terry-cloth towel on his way to the washroom. Picking one out at random, his hands closed upon the handle to the cupboard door and closed it quietly. His eyes continued to scan along the walls surrounding taking note of the picture frames adorning the vertical partitions surrounding him as me made his way. The pictures were set up in such a way that as one headed in the direction Hideki was currently headed, they'd be able to see a visual timeline of the Hinata family, complete with pictures of his parent's wedding day, the day Hideki had been born, his birthdays, Hideki's first day of school, his first bike, his first motocross win, his first championship, His parent's 15th anniversary, His day of Junior High graduation, culminating with the latest picture on the wall, which showed the Hinata family celebrating Hideki's baseball team's success into qualifying for the prefectural tournament. Each picture marked a special moment in time for the Hinatas, each one important.<br>He continued down the hall, entering the relatively simple washroom, complete with the Shower/bath combo and an unassuming porcelain sink. Hideki shut the washroom door behind him once inside, immediately stripping out of his sleepwear, letting it slide off his body to collapse on the floor at his feet. Stepping out of the clothes, he hung the towel on the rack next to the shower, and, reaching over, twisted the knob on the side of the shower to commence the flow of water into the basin, letting it run for a few seconds in order for the water heater to come to full effect before he stepped into the fanning spray.  
><em>God does this feel good…<em> Hideki noted, relaxing and letting the pulsating stream of water help relieve him of the stresses of the previous day, and get him into the mindset for school. As he let the water run its path down his body, he reflected upon the day prior, and decided that for now, it was necessary to let it drop as he knew that if he were to dwell upon it any farther it would bother him for the rest of the day. He hadn't made much progress other than that what he saw must be some sort of premonition indicating events to come, or something of the sort. Either way, he wouldn't find anything important out in the near future, so he was going to leave it be for the time being, and wait for either something to happen, or if he were to have some sort of revelation. At that time he would come to revisit it, but not until then.  
>About ten minutes later, after thoroughly cleaning himself, Hideki stepped out of the shower, dried himself off and headed back to his room, whereupon he dressed himself up in his under armor shirt and biking shorts, along with his Shoei helmet, getting ready to bike the 8 miles to his school. He'd gotten lucky, or at least he'd like to believe so. He got accepted to a school that didn't start until almost 0830, so he could almost coast all the way there and still have enough time to change into his school attire and prepare for class with time to spare.<br>As he headed down the stairs into the kitchen below, he encountered both his parents already seated at the table, his father with the latest issue of Rider ® Magazine spread out in front of him, along with Car and Driver© directly underneath it, enjoying what looked to be an egg sandwich while his mother was simply enjoying what seemed to be a muffin with strawberry jelly smothering one side of it.  
>"Morning, guys. So what's new?" Hideki asked, setting his things next to his place at the table, taking care to not put unnecessary wrinkles into the uniform his mother had made pristine the day prior.<br>"Well, son, there doesn't seem to be too much going on in the racing world, or at least, nothing spectacular… but Toyota's thinking of coming out with a racing-spec suspension setup for the new Camry's that I'm interested in seeing go to production…" His father spoke, giving Hideki an acknowledging glance before continuing his look-over of the material spread before him.  
>His mother piped in as well; "Kiddo, you sure you're doing okay? I mean, I'm sorry if I'm being a bit overprotective, but, well, you know…" she trailed off, her gaze falling as silence claimed her voice.<br>"Yeah mom, I'm doing alright. I'll see if the school doc can check me out and tell me what's up, but other than that episode yesterday, I fell just like I normally do. And don't worry about being overprotective. You're my mom. It's kinda your thing to do that, isn't it?" He asked, a raised eyebrow and a half-grin playing across his features.  
>His mother's face grew flustered before her eyes dropped sown and she stated "Yes, but… oh well, you're still here and that's what matters… So, anything going on in school lately?" his mother asked, raising her gaze while biting once more into her muffin.<br>"No, nothing really. Everything's still pretty much the same. I'm still me, I still have my handful of friends," Hideki replied, reaching across and putting a few sausage links onto his plate, continuing; "and so far my classes have been simple enough in comparison to remapping Dutch's ECU. School's been child's play in contrast, but it's still interesting nonetheless."  
>"Wait, mom, where'd you get that muffin..?"<br>"...Muffin button..." she replied with a subdued smirk.  
>His father's gaze rose from the magazines as he replied: "Glad to hear that school's going well for you. It makes me wonder how you'd be if we hadn't made you go through your racing career and focused instead on academics, considering how naturally adept you are in that arena…" his eyes drifting off, slightly glazing over.<br>"-But dad, if that were the case, I don't know if I'd still be the same person I am right now. Besides, if all I ever did was immerse myself in studies, I might bore easily with it, and I'd lose the drive I have now. Dad, academics didn't teach me my work ethic; racing did." Hideki took another bite out of his sausage before continuing: "If I'd never gone through with it, my mindset and attitude would be totally different, and who knows, I might be lazy, unmotivated, and withdrawn from you two… but, here I am, motivated, connected, and alive. For what it's worth, dad, I think you made the right choice…" he finished his sausage and rose to take his plate to the sink to wash it off. Once that was complete, he strapped on his riding shoes, gathered his gear and his school things and started out the door. But as he crossed the threshold, he paused, giving his father the piece of his mind for the day, saying; "Don't doubt yourself dad, I never did, and things have gone good so far." With that said, Hideki pulled his Schwinn out of the garage, and started his relatively short trek to school for the day.  
>As he faded out into the distance, his mother lowered her muffin, turned to his father and spoke softly "You know, for a kid his age to not only have such an expansive vocabulary, but to praise you like that, and be thankful for what you've done for him, honestly, I think he's right… you did good hon." She stuffed the rest of the muffin in her mouth and moved to take her plate to the sink. Depositing it within its depths, she turned towards her husband, who still had a far-away look in his eyes. Sauntering up to her husband, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and moved her lips to just outside his ears before she spoke softly: "You're still the man that I fell in love with all those years ago, and you are still the same rambunctious, childish, lovable, loyal, comforting, and all around good guy you were back at University, maybe even more so now than before." She paused, leaning into him more for emphasis before continuing; "But, if for some reason you need reassurance, I'll be more than happy to show you just how right you were…" she let it sink into him, watching his facial expression for the subtle change she knew it would undergo. Once it did, she extracted herself, straightening out while she continued: "But I gotta get going to work. Promise you won't think about this too hard, okay?" With that said, she walked away towards the closet to retrieve her navy blue blazer for work, putting a little extra swing in her hips just in case he hadn't gotten the message, a smirk lighting up her face the entire time.<br>He sat there, turned completely around, watching his wife walk away, mesmerized. After a few moments, he swung back to the magazines, but not before he gave a low wolf whistle of appreciation. Raising his head and putting his hands together, he raised a silent prayer to the sky; _Thank you kami for blessing me with Kuesa. I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay your kindness for this gift but know it's well-appreciated._

Meanwhile, Hideki was booking it towards school, averaging nearly 20 mph the entire way there. Thanks to his consistent motocross training and his tenacious drive to be the best he could, he was well conditioned to make this short jaunt in next to no time. And lo and behold, less than 25 minutes later, he arrived back at school, early enough to park his bike and head straight for the showers, whereupon he could commence his preparation for the day. However, as he'd passed what he'd thought was roughly the 6-mile mark, someone had yelled something to him, but he'd only caught the tail end of their sentence. Something along the lines of "…KEEP TRUCKIN, MAN!" He'd tried to turn around and see who it was to acknowledge whomever had spoken to him, but he'd already rounded the corner, and whoever it was had disappeared beyond his line of sight. Resigning himself, he'd continued on. _I wonder who that might have been. Usually no one even bothers to notice me, much less take the time to speak to me in passing. _But as he thought more upon it, his mind fixated on one thing he'd found rather peculiar about that voice… _It didn't seem like a man who said that… I wonder if I happened to catch the attention of a woman… This could mean great things for Hideki Hinata. Oh yeah, Hideki's definitely got it going on today! Hells yeah!_ And with that thought running through his head, he started off towards the shower hall with a little extra spring in his gait, thinking just a little higher of himself. Little did he know that today, unlike every other day, there existed a pair of eyes, observing him since his entrance in the school grounds, eyes that followed his every movement with speculative interest, eyes whose owner followed Hinata into the depths of the otherwise clear school.

_**Elsewhere**_…

Yui was so happy to finally be home, traipsing around her meager yard with her wheelchair, wheelying up and down her driveway, testing her sense of balance among the sights and sounds that were most definitely her home. As she let herself back down onto the pavement, she leaned back in her chair, simply reveling in the _life_ that was going on around her. Finally, she was able to wander about outside once again, after all these years that she'd been confined to her bed. Not to say that her bed wasn't comfortable, quite the opposite. However, simply seeing nature from a vantage point was nothing in comparison to this! All the memories from her early childhood were coming back to her once again. The soft scent of the cherry trees mixed with the lilacs that her neighbor had in her front yard drifted to her upon a gentle breeze which softly enveloped her in a sun-induced warm embrace, overloading her senses in a pleasant way, a way in which she hadn't had the pleasure of immersing herself within since she'd been able to walk. _As far as I'm concerned, _she thought, _this is by far the next best thing. Even if I have to stay in a wheelchair for the rest of my life, this is so much better than sitting in that bed all day. Besides, now my mom can actually get a job and not have to worry about me. Hey- I might actually be able to go to public school now! How much fun that would be! Not to mention all the potential friends I might make! Oh yeah!_ Yui continued her thought process in this fashion for quite some time before she heard a rather loud whirring sound coming towards her. At once she saw a young man riding by rather quickly on his bike. Her mind starting running just as fast as the man was pedaling.  
><em>Ohmigod, he is flying! Wow, oh wow! I so wish that I could do that- wait! If I keep healing like I am, I might just be able to do what he's doing pretty soon, hell yea. Hey wait! Where's he going!?<em> She finally voiced her enthusiasm to him just as he was passing by: "Dude, that awesome! JUST KEEP ON TRUCKIN, MAN!" As he swept around the corner, she could swear that he turned his head to look at her, but he was already around the corner before she could get a clear look at him. "Aw, shoot. I wanted to get a good look at him…" She looked down at her legs in disdain before continuing; " You know, you can start working anytime now legs… anytime. It'd be greatly appreciated. Come one, work!" And Yui commenced to once again struggle to make her legs move even an inch in any direction. Moving only her toes once again, she gave up, a slightly crestfallen look upon her face as she realized that there would be no major movement from her legs anytime soon. _Damnit Kami, why did you give me half of my mobility back just to tease me with the other half I wish so much to use? You're cruel, Kami. Really cruel. _Yui moved her gaze in the man's direction, gazing in his direction even though he was far gone by now. _But still, that man… _Resigning herself to the fact that she probably wouldn't see him again, if ever, came to reflect what of the man she had actually seen. From what she could make out, he looked pretty good with those skin tight clothes on him, although they hid any definition away from her prying eyes… but still… _A girl can dream, can't she..?_  
>With the thought of a hot man riding by her eyes on repeat in her mind, she plowed forward up the driveway, receding once again into the depths of her home, where her mother was just finishing showering, getting ready for the day.<p>

"Hon, you ready to go yet?" Her mother asked from somewhere within the house.

"Please, mother, I should be asking you that, jeez…" _If I had to wait any longer I'd have to go check up on her to make sure she didn't die on me or anything…_

Waiting in the foyer, she started to daydream, thinking of what it would be like once she could walk again, her attention drifting off once again as all the possibilities came to her once again, causing her to feel giddy.  
>Which is how her mom found her a few minutes later, eyes closed, a pleasant expression upon her face. She looked upon her daughter with an almost pitying expression; <em>I wish I could spare you the pain of going through with this, and if I could I would gladly take it in her place, but, unfortunately, this is something that must be done if there's any chance of reconciliation later for Yui…<em> The woman's thoughts faded as she finished approaching her daughter.

Lightly tapping Yui on the shoulder, she spoke; "Hey, we're going to be late to our own meeting if you keep this up. Let's hurry up and get going."

Yui immediately snapped awake as she turned to acknowledge her mother with a silent nod, wheeling her chair to the passenger side of the compact car, opening the door, transferring her body to the seat, and collapsing the wheelchair to set it in the seat behind her.  
>Her mother sidled into the seat next to her, strapped herself and Yui into their respective seat restraints, and started the engine.<p>

_**Elsewhere…**_

Oh, it had been heavenly. But then again, every time he hit the showers when he arrived at school, it felt just as good as the last time. The hot water chasing away the slight sheen of perspiration that his body had acquired over the short jaunt from his house to the school, along with releasing the knots that habitually formed in his lower back due to the rather high intensity of his pedaling, combined with his drive to better himself to the point of exhaustion, regardless of how short his jaunt was. And then, the great feeling of just being _clean_ after he dried himself off and dressed never got old. Loathe as he was to admit it, it actually made him look forward to the school day, and give him a rather positive outlook at the onset of the day.  
>Granted, he wasn't one to grumble and moan, but school was definitely not one of his favorite things to do, if given the choice. But, since he had relatively no choice in the matter, he at least made an effort to enjoy what little he could of school while he still could.<br>Gathering up his things, he folded and stored his biking outfit, freshly washed, into his small duffel bag, threw that and his schoolbag over his shoulder, and began the short walk up to his classroom, where upon his arrival, set them back down, and began undergoing the process of taking out his school things and reviewing the material from the day prior. As he sat there, reabsorbing the material, he became unfocused and lost his bearing on his surroundings, becoming immersed in the material in front of him. It was comfortable, it was quiet, and, most importantly, it was peaceful. There wasn't the usual hustle and bustle sounds of humanity scurrying upon itself in the general morning rush. No, here it was calm, tranquil… He could easily lose himself in its serenity, which often happened.  
>Which just so happened to include today. Which might explain why he had so miserably failed to notice the pair of eyes that were still watching him, ever since his entrance to the school grounds. They had watched him walk in, watched him enter and leave the men's showers, and had watched him enter his classroom, and subsequently lose himself in his schoolwork. Then a thought arose from behind the eyes.<p>

_Why the hell am I just standing here, acting like a freakish stalker!? I mean, my behavior is creeping even me out… But what the hell can I do? I'm too scared to approach him in the state I'm in, given that my vocal chords would actually work right now. Besides, what the hell would I say? _**"Hey, I've been watching you from afar for a little while now, and I've been hoping to talk to you for awhile, but haven't had the courage, so I've been sneaking peeks at you in the morning…"** _Yeah, that'll go over real well. Then he'll slip from my grasp, and end up with some other girl, and I can't let that happen, at least not yet. Not when I haven't even had the chance to see him up close. Who knows, he might just be dating material after all, at least if he has the attitude to match the body…_

Hinata suddenly had a feeling that he was being watched, and therefore suddenly turned his head to stare at the small window in the corner of the door, to see if someone was looking in on him. He saw a flash of burgundy, and then nothing. Curious, he stood and strode towards the door. Once he reached it, he flung it open, stepping out into the hall. Once again, he saw the burgundy flash at the corner of his vision. Wondering what was going on, he strolled down the hall, increasing the length of his stride. Rounding the hall corner, his gaze was met with…  
>Nothing. Typical. Resigning himself to believe he was becoming delusional, he chalked it up to some sort of aftereffect of his visions, and now they were manifesting in real-time. Turning, he traipsed back to his classroom's door, only to be attacked by a dark form that blew into his back full force, almost knocking him to the ground. Luckily enough for Hideki, his feet automatically shot out in front of him to break his fall at the same time that his Judo training kicked in, and simultaneously ripped his opponent off him and to the floor whilst regaining his balance and standing fully before his foe, who, upon closer inspection, was actually a friendly.<p>

"Dude, Rick, what the hell bro? You just rise up out of bed this morning and decide to sneak attack your good friend?" Hinata said, a deeply confused look upon his face as Rick stood to face him.

"No, just thought you could use a break from the norm for once. Not that yesterday doesn't count, but still…" Hideki facepalmed, and started rubbing his temples before stating; "Well, if that was the final objective, there _are_ better ways to go about it than, well… this."

Rick, rubbing a quickly developing sore spot on his back, thanks to his apparent lack of forward thinking, gave Hideki a sheepish grin before agreeing. "Yeah, that could've gone better, I suppose…"

"Well, now that we've cleared up the issue of your idiocy.."

"HEY!" Rick roared, his eyes shooting open as he looked incredulously on at Hideki.

"…Anyways, how's about we go to homeroom and help get you caught back up on whatever you didn't do last night. Oh, don't give me that look," Hinata stated, noting the change in expression of his friend, "We both know that you can't finish homework to save your life. Now come on, let's go before the rest of the student body gets here and we get distracted…" The two boys' voices faded, and then stopped altogether as the door to the classroom was shut and they were now within the confines of the classroom.

Down the other hall, and audible sigh escaped a set of lips. A set of lips belonging to the same person whose eyes had sought out Hideki earlier that morning. _Oh goodness, what if he'd seen me staring at him!? Yeah, that's __**definitely not**__ creepy. Not creepy at all. But thanks to whoever's above for that other guy coming in when he did. If he hadn't Hideki might have heard me breathing and then he could've found me. But that's neither here nor there. Time to go get my things and stop being this stalker-thing._ And with that, a human form in a burgundy over jacket walked back the hall from where it came, and headed downstairs to change into its school uniform, its long, black hair fluttering behind it in a wave that rolled down from its head to the tips about halfway down its back.

_**A jail, somewhere in the city…**_

Although she had gone into this headstrong and confident, Yui was now starting to notice the creep of anxiety, nervousness, and _fear_ ebbing ever so slowly to the forefront of her conscience. At first, she had been secure in her ideal that she could meet this up-to-now faceless human who had done this to her, reconcile with what they'd done, and with the snap of fingers, _whoosh_, they'd be put away, and she could get on with her life, and start actually _living_ for once, instead of being a vegetable, even if she was mostly limited by her wheelchair.  
>But nothing was ever as easy as it seemed, at least, not in this arena. There was no way that she could anticipate being fearful of being in the same room as her attempted killer. There was no way she could've realized how dangerous the killer could be, or how'd they react upon seeing her. Who knew, they might attack her and try to kill her once again… <em>(Granted while it was near impossible for that to occur, that didn't make much of a mark on Yui's colorful imagination, nor did it help any to calm the fear that took over…)<em>  
>But, regardless, Yui knew that she had to keep face if she ever thought of facing her alleged attacker head-on and coming out alright. So, she swallowed her pride, amped up her courage, and strode into the lobby of the building, her chair's wheel whirring lightly as she crossed the threshold.<br>The first thing she noticed as she rode in was the tense atmosphere. There were officers everywhere she looked, and everywhere there wasn't an officer, some felon was just hanging out, waiting to be processed. Almost all of the benches and chairs were taken up. _Hmmm, seems to be a rather busy afternoon… wonder if there's some sort of crime spree going on…_ Yui wondered as she strolled through the large entrance hall towards a corridor which was depicted as 'WITNESS INTERROGATION AND IDENTIFICATION' by the sign looming over the entrance, suspended by large metallic chains and hooks. As she looked down the hall, she squinted her eyes, trying to see through the relative darkness of the hall ahead of her. It wasn't that the hall wasn't lit; it was more that the hall itself seemed to absorb the light and return less of it back to the space than then rest of the building. Yui looked up towards her mother, who was walking alongside her. Her mother was sporting a fixed expression, one that Yui hadn't seen her mother use since the aftermath of her father's disappearance from her early life, when times had been rather turbulent for both mother and daughter. In fact, as Yui looked at her mother's expression more carefully, she noticed that her eyes held a stormy look within their depths, indicating that there was most likely some sort of inner battle taking place within her mind as they made their way to the identification room near the end of the hall.  
>Dropping her gaze back to in front of her, she looked slightly to her right and saw her destination. She nodded her head in the general direction of the door, attempting to garnish her mother's attention to draw her closer, but, to no avail, it seemed that her mother was still lost within herself. <em>What is bothering her so much, I wonder…?<em> Yui pondered, as she pushed herself a little faster so that she could cut off her mother. Once she completed the hook, she sat there, waiting for a moment before the inevitable would happen. _Hee hee mother, this'll show you to pay attention!_  
>And, of course, but a moment later, her mother, oblivious to her surroundings, rammed directly into her mischievous daughter, tripping herself and falling face-first into her daughter's lap.<br>Dazed, ans slightly confused, she squinted her eyes together, wondering where she'd ended up. _On the floor? No, this is too soft to be the floor… but wait, how did I fall? There wasn't anything in front of me-_ She looked in front of her and her daughter's face met her rising gaze.  
>"Welcome back to the land of the living, mother." Yui had an eyebrow raised, a slight smirk upon her rather smug expression. "Unless of course you'd rather just keep tripping all day, that's fine with me."<p>

"Yui, try to take this seriously, please. Besides, I've got a bit on my mind right now, so you can't blame me for not being entirely aware of my surroundings." Yui's mother paused, finally taking notice of where she was, and the sign that was now overhead. "Oh." Was all she said.

With a frustrated sigh and a cross expression gracing her features, Yui lifted her mother off of her frame, and continued to the room where she was scheduled to find her attacker.  
>As the thought crossed Yui's mind, a slight chill crossed her mind, making her huddle a little further into the wheelchair's seat, trying to find any extra comfort she could from the supportive leather. As she entered the room, there was an officer awaiting her, seated at the far side of the table that took up much of the inner portion of the room. Yui rolled into the room, immediately taking up residence on the opposite side of the table, waiting for the man to begin to speak while her mother took a seat next to her in the available chair. After a few moments, the officer began to speak.<br>"Ms. Motori and Ms. Yui, I presume?" He asked, waiting for their confirmation. He didn't wait long, as they both nodded quickly. He continued; "Well, if both of you are ready, we have the suspects up and ready for identification… Let's just hope that the perp responsible is here… lord knows it's been too long since we bagged a real bad one."

"Don't worry sir, if he's here, I'll be able to pick him out right quick. My memory can be photographic like that at times." Yui piped up, hopeful that her good memory wouldn't fail her this time.

The officer looked down at the young girl, somewhat surprised by her enthusiasm at the matter. Usually people who'd gone through the same type of ordeal were still in some state of shock or fear, and did this to finally put their demons that'd been haunting them to rest once and for all. Never, in his 8 years on the force had he seen a victim that was so _eager_ to undergo the process, or at least not any one that willingly did this with such vigor. _ Maybe she's putting up a front so that we don't have to worry about her mental stability… Or maybe she is simply holding her breakdown for later, perhaps… Or she could just really be ecstatic about putting this behind her and this isn't a façade… interesting indeed._  
>With that thought in his mind, he moved to open the blinds. As he did so, Yui and her mother looked through the glass to see… them. The suspects were there right in front of their eyes, lined up in close proximity to one another, all holding numbered signs signifying who they were.<br>As Yui looked on at the small group, she started noticing things about them. The way they stood, the way that they held their gaze at the glass, which was probably 1-way, or at least that's what Yui guessed at, if their lack of directional gaze was anything to go by. And then she noticed the man at the end, who was fidgeting slightly. He seemed a bit more nervous than the others, and his gaze never quite met the glass in front of him. She wondered why that was. If anything, it made it seem that he was guilty, whereas Yui didn't believe that this man could have been her attacker, as he was simply too squirmy to have any real credit to his name, at least, not in this case. So, she removed her gaze and studied the rest of the group. Typical ruffians, weight room jockies, and generally dredged unashamed dropouts of society. In other words, your typical criminal profile. But something wasn't adding up. None of them seemed to have a clue as to why they were there. It was well written in the expressions upon their faces, the clear confusion, and impatience that riddled their faces with an array of fierce expressions. But still, there was that other at the end, the one who seemed to be the only one actually nervous about the whole ordeal. She took a closer look at him.  
>She now noticed something about him that she had overlooked earlier. He was definitely refraining from making any eye contact with the glass set before him, which is why she couldn't really get a good lock on who he was. She rolled herself back a few feet, and turned her head towards the officer in the room. She then asked: "sir, is there any way that we can get number 6 to fully face the glass, I can't really get a good look at him with the way he's acting right now…"<p>

The officer nodded, replying: "Of course ma'am, we'll have that taken care of as soon as possible…" The officer then pressed a button near the door at the entrance, which looked to be some sort of intercom. He spoke quietly into it, whence there came a quick and quiet reply from whoever was on the other end. Yui turned her attention back to the line of men, and soon enough, a separate officer entered that room and told them to stand at attention, fully facing the glass. They didn't all comply at once, so Yui was made to wait another minute or so as they finally situated themselves. But now she had a good look at everyone, so she went down the line once again, studying their features closely, awaiting any kind of reaction that could trigger a portion of her memory. But none of the men she saw before her were triggering anything, or at least nothing to her knowledge. But then she got to the end of the line and saw that last man once again. And now she finally saw his face.  
>She let out a small gasp that she didn't realize she let out. She looked upon his features, and it triggered a memory within her. She could see the car coming closer and closer, and now, that dark shadow that she'd seen within the car, the one screaming at the people on the sidewalk to get out of the way, that shadow finally had a face. But what fully triggered her memory was his eyes. He had deep grey irises which were set within a pearlescent white that had a tinge of deep red within it, making them look almost bloodshot. She'd remembered them. Back then, they'd looked like the eyes of one possessed, almost like demon eyes.<br>Yes, this was definitely the man who'd ran into her that day, the one who'd caused her to be impaled upon the rebar, the one who'd hospitalized her and almost had her killed. The one who'd given her doctors the chance to reset her spine and give her a second chance at life. The one who'd made her seemingly impossible recovery possible. The man who'd for better or worse, changed her life forever.  
>And, unfortunately, the man who was charged for hit-and-run. But, so was the way of things. He may never have meant to do it, but it was his fault for pushing the limits of his machine in the vicinity of pedestrians, and now he had to suffer the consequences of attempted manslaughter. Which to Yui seemed to be a shame, as the man in front of her had a lot of life left to live before him, and now he was subject to spend a major portion of it locked up.<br>Yui looked up at the officer, nodding at number six, letting him know that he was the one he was looking for. But before the officer could leave, Yui spoke up: "Sir, if it's not too much trouble, could I please have a word with the young man before my mother and I leave? There's something I want to say to him before I go."

Yui's mother was taken aback. What could her daughter possibly have to say to the young man besides hash him out for his poor decision? She was about to reject her daughter's proposal outright, and was commencing to voice her decision when she caught the look that the officer was casting in her direction. He walked over to Yui, his gaze warning her mother not to speak at the moment as he engaged her daughter. "Is there anything specific you wish to impart on the young man that we could do for you instead?"

Yui shook her head; "No, this is something that I need to say to him, and it's something he needs to hear me say to him, not anyone else, otherwise it'll lose its meaning."

The officer nodded his head in understanding, moving over to the intercom and notifying the other end of Yui's wishes. There came a quick reply afterwards, and then the comm. was shut off. On the other side of the glass, the six suspects were escorted off the identification platform. He turned to Yui, stating; "He's in a separate room, and being prepped for a chat with you as we speak. Actually, it's right next door if you wish to do it right now…"

Yui twisted her head slightly, contemplating for a moment. After a few seconds, she formulated a reply; "Yes, I think I'll go and do that now, thank you sir…" She extrapolated herself from the room, heading over to the other room to speak with the man in the other room.

At this, Yui's mother had had enough. She turned on the officer in something akin to anger as she belted out; "How dare you subject my daughter to that without my prior approval? How could you just forsake her well-being so that she can speak with that, that monstrosity!? Why do I get no input at all?" by this time, the enraged mother had crossed the expanse between her and the officer and was now up in his face. "What if she can't handle it, what if it breaks her on the inside, what if this does irreparable damage to her persona? Ever think about that!?" She all but shrieked in his face.

The officer, calm as ever, replied; "No, that isn't the case at all. Actually throughout the entire identification process I was watching your daughter closely to see if there was any possibility that she couldn't handle any portion, or that she was going to have a breakdown of sorts. However, that appears not to be the case, as she's shown strength of character much greater than most people that go through these kinds of traumatic experiences show, along with a drive that I don't find in many people. She seems like she can handle it rather well…"

Ms. Motori huffed, rather put off by his observations, not believing him entirely. "regardless, I'm still going in there and supporting my daughter while she faces him."

The officer stepped in front of Ms. Motori and blocked her path as he calmly stated; "Actually, at this point that might be more damaging than helpful. Whatever she has to say to that young man is something that she believes she must say alone, for whatever reason that may be to her."

"Oh, and I'm supposed to just stand by and let whatever happens to her happen? How can I just abandon my only child like that?"

"You're not abandoning her. You're letting her handle this on her own terms, in a way that only she can. Trust me, she is quite safe from him if he should prove hostile in any way. However, I don't think that'll be much of a problem."

Ms. Motori scoffed at him. "Oh, and why might that be..?"

The officer looked to his right, almost looking through the wall where Yui was bound to be engaged in some sort of conversation with the young man as they spoke. "because, that young man turned himself in, and confessed to the whole thing, along with his explanation for why he did what he did after the incident. While it doesn't excuse his actions one bit, it does explain a bit of what happened that day. That, and the feel I got off of him. Ma'am, I've been in the force for some time now, and I could read a person rather well even before I entered the force. This kid isn't the type to get violent or angry over nothing."

Ms. Motori looked away from the officer for a moment before saying: "That doesn't really help my nerves any, you know…"

"Ma'am, with all due respect, it'll have to do for now…"

Hinata was just finishing the English problem up on the whiteboard when an image of a prison interrogation room came to the forefront of his mind. Sitting further back in his chair, Hideki decided that he could entertain his imagination for a few minutes while the rest of the class was finishing up. As he sat there, the situation opened up in his mind, and he started to formulate the surroundings, along with the smaller details, like the pink hair that took up one side of the table. Coming from somewhere in the pink mass came a girl's voice, and it seemed consoling, almost as if the pink-haired girl was encouraging the person on the far side of the glass. And on the other side of the glass was a man, someone who looked to be around his age, looking somewhat forlorn and downcast, as if he was guilty of something that he wished he'd never even thought of in the first place. _Well, this is a rather specific dream, now isn't it..?_ Hinata thought, as he checked his bearings around him, ensuring that he hadn't indulged for too long and missed the next problem, or gotten called on. When he was assured that neither was the case, he continued his mental interlude, picking up right where he left off…

Interestingly enough, his daydream was corresponding rather well with an event taking place in the downtown precinct.


	5. Chapter 4: Accidents and Viewpoints

Well holy crap. It's been waaaaaay too long since I updated. Apologies to all followers and avid readers and the like.

Okay recent events time: Since last update, went through Prototype training course (practical application of Navy Nuclear technology and theory, so basically six months of 16+ hour workdays to qualify to do my job), qualified, went on leave, and am now at Nuclear welder school. Holy crap, shit is happening in my life.

But that's besides the point. None of you actually care about all that; you just want more of the story. So here it is: Installment number five. And she's a doozy. Spent 3 weeks straight on this puppy, whenever I could scrounge up extra sleep time to wrack my brains out. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Angel Beatz! Or any associated characters, plot lines, possible future works, or other associated media, but I do own my own plot vices, original characters, situations, made up locations, and other original work held herein.

_Tick-tick-tick._ The room was sparsely lit; the light from the bulb in the overhanging fixture spreading its soft glow along the length of the table placed central to the room's layout. As he began to grow more and more nervous at the upcoming prospect placed before him, he subconsciously began to notice all the little details about his current surroundings. Like the small amount of mold and mildew that perforated the edges of the walls where the corners came together, and how it melded into darker and darker shades of that sickly green color until it was almost black at the point where it reached the floor. And all the scratches on the floor that left it looking pockmarked, worn, and abused. _Tick-tick-tick._ He noticed how the seat he was currently in was sunken in just enough that it conformed to his shape; but whether that was due to the material within or lack thereof was still up to chance as far as he could tell. Either way, it wasn't as comfortable as he'd thought it might be, but it was better than sitting in those stripped metal chairs he'd been held upon as he'd been processed. Those weren't meant to be sat on, or at least not as long as he'd been on them. And the table that sat in front of him wasn't meant for much better, as long as appearances were to be accredited as much as he had been. It had deep gouges, small scratches, and many small notches and holes adorning the surface to the point that it should be called something else… _Ain't no way that anyone could do anything productive on this table, much less attempt to write on it…_

The smell in the room was subtle, but ever-present. It smelled much like old furniture, the musk and musty smell permeating his nostrils and refusing to leave them anytime soon. _Tick-Tick-Tick. _Granted, it wasn't at a potency that was bothering him, but it was slightly disconcerting at the very least. That damn clock was grinding on his nerves for reasons he wasn't sure he could figure out at the moment, but its incessant vocal cycling was putting him on edge, but not quite as much as the cuffs currently adorning his wrists. He snuck a quick glance at the abomination, internally cursing its existence as he looked at its face. _0914._

As his eyes swiveled back to focus on the far wall, he picked up the faint sounds of someone coming closer down the hall that was outside his room; and interestingly enough a cyclic sqeaking. _Huh… wonder what that could be…_ he thought as he concentrated his thoughts on what was happening outside. He waited with bated breath as he perked his hearing up just enough so that he could try to catch a little of the conversation being held outside the room. Although the words were indiscriminate at the distance the voices were at, he tried to identify the conversation based off of the voices he could hear. Whilst doing so, he quickly recognized the voice of the chief that'd brought him into this very room, along with the voice of a… _woman..? No, that's the voice of a girl, most likely in her mid to late teens if I had to gue-_

He froze up. He knew the meaning of that type of voice. If the chief was here, and that voice was here… _The cyclic sqeaking… of course. It's got to be her. The girl I hit. Wait, what's she doing here? Coming to gloat at my demise, bring me down worse than I've already attempted to do on my own? _His shoulders sagged as he realized what was about to happen. She would come waltzing in here, demean him, scold him for his recklessness, and after she tore into him, she'd leave with her head held high, walking out as she finally rid herself of a piss poor portion of her life that had been caused by none other than him. And he couldn't find any real reason to be angry at anyone other than himself, which made him feel worse just at the thought of it. He knew it. This was the scene in all the crime dramas he'd ever watched throughout his life, where the victim reconciles with themselves by severing any and all ties with the aggressor. And now he was the aggressor.

As the voices outside his room grew louder, his head sank back down so he was looking between his knees, his gaze unfocused, his thoughts becoming cloudy as he steeled himself for what was about to come. _Here it comes…_ he thought, finally accepting the fact that he was screwed beyond what he could fix on his own. His life started to come back to him as he realized it was over before it had truly begun… the memory of walking into the kitchen in the morning as a young lad, seeing his mom already pulling the corn muffins out of the oven as he finished his walk down the stairs; the time he'd first walked into middle school, not knowing what the hell he was doing or what to expect; his first love back in his later high school years; the day he'd gotten his driver's license, the day he'd finally saved up enough to get his first car, and all the weekends afterwards he'd spent working on it for the sheer hell of it. His mind continued this path of self-reflection to the point of where he didn't even notice when the chief and the girl entered the room, much less when she was carted to the opposite side of the room. Nor did he notice the curious look that now graced her features as she gazed upon him, along with the way that the chief ever so quietly left the room to take his place aside the two-way mirror. No, he was just lost in his thoughts….

_Is he even aware that I'm in here with him, or is he just normally this quiet?_ Yui thought to herself as she watched the young man across the table from her, her curiosity getting the better of her as she chose to remain quiet for the time being and simply watch the man. The first thing she noticed was how young he really seemed to be. He couldn't be any more than two years her senior by the looks of things, nor was he in bad shape. His hair was well-kept, he had a decent build, and looked to be pretty well off. However, the look on his face showed something different. She had somehow assumed that he would be the arrogant, smart-ass type who was unrepentant and demeaning, but this guy seemed to be the complete and utter opposite. The expression on his face said it all; The downtrodden glance, the vacant, thousand yard stare, the drooped shoulders, the slightly slack jaw… Hell, this guy looked as if he'd just been forced to watch someone club his puppy to death, if nothing else. Taking note, she relaxed her position slightly, taking in her surroundings a bit before beginning. Granted, the police chief had been adamant about warning her of the lack of upkeep in the room she was currently in, however his words simply hadn't done this room justice. This room was, well, simply put it was unkempt at best.

Shrugging off that realization she lowered her gaze back to the man in front of her, who was still lost in his own thoughts, as he was still looking into his lap with that same defeated look in his eyes. _Well, no time quite like the present to make some conversation and get this ball rolling…_

"So… um, hi." She started off nervously, trying to make eye contact with the man in front of her. _Hmmm… no such luck. Darnit, why won't he look at me!_ She contemplated silently, growing frustrated at the fact that the man in front of her had yet to recognize her presence, or rather anything outside his thoughts for that matter. _Perhaps a more direct approach then..?_ Yui's eyes scrunched together as she tried to come up with a way to get his attention.

"HELLO GOOD SIR! I HAVE NOW LANDED AMONGST YOU! RESPOND OR ELSE SUFFER UNDER MY- oh, so you are alive after all… hehehehe…" she said after she finally got his attention. She ended up using the shock and awe technique. Suffice to say that it worked.

His head shot up about halfway through her lustrious introduction, wide-eyed and somewhat off-axis. He seemed nervous, so she tried to break the growing tension by attempting further conversation with the individual in front of her. "So um, hey. How ya doin?" She asked, flashing him what she hoped was a non-threatening smile.

But it seemed that her nice approach just served to put the man off further than before, so she continued her attempt at conversation to see if she could incite some sort of positive reaction out of him so that he'd at least respond. "Well, anyways, I'm Yui Motori, it's nice to meet you." She proclaimed as she gave a slight bow toward the man in front of her, her ears peaked up in an attempt to pick up some sort of response from him. As luck should have it, he did respond, although if she hadn't been so concentrated on trying to hear him she probably wouldn't have heard his rather quiet reply.

"…Naburi…"

"Naburi, uh, what was that? I didn't catch that last part." Yui spoke as she strained to hear what the young man had just said.

He mustered up as much courage as he could gather from within and spoke his name once again. "Naburi. Naburi Sakuda. …I'm Naburi Sakuda… nice to meet you as well…" He finished as his voice trailed off, losing the courage to speak just as soon as he had said his name. _Just who is this girl in front of me?_ He wondered, finally taking note of the girl in front of him. She wasn't anything like what he'd been expecting. She was bubbly, perky, and he couldn't seem to find anything in her demeanor that was belittling towards him; rather it was as if she was just trying to have a civil conversation with him instead, as if he wasn't the one who'd almost killed her barely a few weeks prior. _Maybe this won't be as bad as I'd originally thought…_

_Interesting name he's got there... actually it's a really pretty name, kinda feminine now that I think about it…_ Yui thought to herself as she tinkered with the idea of how to get the ball rolling. Deciding on a well-traveled route of conversation, she continued; "So Mr. Sakuda, I've come here today to talk to with you so that we can both comes to terms with what's happened and hopefully move on so there are no harsh feelings, okay?" She stated with a smile, hoping beyond hope that he'd at least engage in conversation with her. This one-sided conversation was making her just a little uneasy.

_Is she for real?_ Naburi thought to himself, astounded at this girl, this Yui. _Is she intent on holding no grudges against me whatsoever? Or am I just reading too much into this and only seeing what I want to see? Oh well, I guess I'll find out one way or another…_ "Uh, alright then. What did you have in mind?" He asked, testing the waters a little, trying to see how this was going to play out.

Yui on the other hand was ecstatic that he'd finally started talking back to her. At least now the words could start flowing and she could get somewhere with this situation. "Well, since I don't really remember or understand what happened on the day that you crashed into me, I just wanted to know what your take on what happened was. My memories are still a little bit clouded, and I'm not sure that my mother's recollection is entirely accurate." She finished with an intent look on Sakuda.

His facial expression changed slightly, his gaze dropped a little and wavered to his left. He sat for a few seconds collecting his thoughts, trying to figure out the best way to portray his point of view on the situation where he himself wasn't entirely sure what happened until it was too late. Deciding to give what he was capable, he began; "Are you sure you want to hear my side of the story? I mean, I could be the angry, asinine inconsiderate little shitbag that you're afraid I might be. But on that same note, who knows? I might just be the nicest guy you've ever met; but the real question is whether or not you want to take that risk and shatter whatever view of the world you might have right now." _Better to break her now and stop whatever ugly situation this'll turn out to be before it has time to grow into itself._ He steeled his gaze, narrowed his eyes, and looked directly into her eyes, challenging her to take him up on his challenge, secretly hoping beyond hope that she would just drop this conversation before it became something he could no longer deal with. However, the expression he saw portrayed in her features seemed bound and determined to get the truth out of him.

"Whether or not you're a meanie doesn't have anything to do with how I feel or the choices I make!" Yui shot out suddenly, seeming to surprise even herself with the suddenness of her outburst. After recovering herself for a few seconds, she continued; "But I would appreciate it if you at least took a little time to just tell me your side. Otherwise I'm always going to feel like I'm missing something vital to me," she finished, giving him a pleading look in return to finish off her sentence.

_Dear god, what the hell do I do against that? _Naburi thought to himself. He'd heard of the legendary puppy dog pout, but never had he seen it used, or with such intensity. He could feel her feminine wiles crushing his self-control and his will to remain silent. _But then again, _Naburi thought, _why am I even resisting her request in the first place..? What do I have to lose by telling her besides another secret that I don't need to carry._ He spoke. "I guess that I could tell you, but it's not some great heroic story of triumph or all that bullshit. To be honest, it's nothing more than an accurate portrayal of my ever-increasing capacity for hotheadedness, shortsightedness and stupidity."

Yui smiled at the end of his small speech. "So you're a moron. It's alright. I know a lot of guys that are morons," Yui pointed up her index finger as if she were going to start counting off of a list, "in fact there was this guy back at, um at-" Yui stopped midsentence as another flashback occurred, one in which she was standing in a group of people her age, in a room that looked much like an office, or more so like a teacher's office at a school. _What was that just now..?_ She wondered, not knowing where it'd come from.

She just seemed to trail off all of a sudden, and didn't return from her trance for a fair bit of time. "This guy from where…?" Naburi asked, wondering why she suddenly cut off in the middle of her sentence. Just as he was about to call out to her to see if she was still cognizant, she seemed to snap out of whatever funk she was in, and redirected her focus back upon him, going on as if nothing had just happened. "So yeah, it's okay if you're a moron. It happens."

"Yeah." Naburi replied sheepishly, his gaze dropping from hers, not sure what to say.

"Perk up sport, it's not that bad. Besides, you don't have anything to feel guilty about. We're all still alive and kicking, so I'd count that as a good day, wouldn't you" Yui asked, trying to coerce the young man before her into speaking his piece.

Naburi took a long, deep breath before he began. _So this is it,_ he thought to himself; _I guess the big secret's finally about to come out. I just hope she's ready for it…_ "Well, I guess that day had started out kind of like any other, I suppose. I'd just finished working on my car, and was taking it out on a test ride to see if the changes I'd made to it had any effect." He remembered it perfectly. He'd just been testing the throttle response after a stoplight to see if the fuel mapping he'd set was working, and then he'd planned on going back and meeting up with his friends later that evening. "Anyways, I'd just finished my testing and was about to start heading home so that I could get ready for meeting my friends in Shinjuku that night. I pulled up to this set of lights and blipped the throttle for my own entertainment." Yui watched Naburi as he began to tell his tale, noting the far-off look his gaze had accrued. Paying keen attention, she listened to him as he continue; "So I let the engine coast back down as I waited for the light to turn, and then this guy pulls up next to me…"

Flashback

As the engine purred back down to idle a wide grin adorned his facial features. _So the mapping really worked! I can't believe that I finally got it right! Oh just wait until Sasuke sees this! _ He thought, relaxing a bit into the seat behind him, a feeling of contentment flooding him. He glanced down at his gageboard under the dash, everything reading at their normal indications. He was good to go. All that was left was to get back home, shower, get changed, and meet up with Sasuke later that evening.

As he sat there waiting, a dark, blood red car pulled up next to him. As he shifted his gaze to get a better look, his curiosity piqued. What sat before him was definitely not a normal street car. This not only had the look, but also the stance, the sound, and gave off the aura of a street racer's car. What sat next to him was a serious piece of automotive machinery. As he continued to give the car the long once over it was due, the passenger side window opened. And who should be behind the wheel but Higurashi. The number one dickhead in his school, rich to boot, and more than happy to show off to everyone and anyone within a 3 mile radius. Seriously, this dude needed to get bent just once, and now that Naburi knew that he was driving this piece of machinery, within him grew this overwhelming urge to completely overcome him in any and every driving maneuver possible and for once show that little asshole his place. But of course, he had to open his fucking mouth.

"Hey there Sakuda. Nice car you got there. Though it's too bad that it just can't possibly keep up with this crazy lady I've got right here. I mean come on, you're just kidding yourself if you think you might even stand a chance against this baby I'm rollin' in. But hey, why don't we see how close you might come to seeing my rear bumper, ha! What a frickin' joke! Like that's going to happen…" And Higurashi continued to laugh even as he rolled up the tinted window.

Oh, now it was most certainly on. Higurashi just had to push Sakuda's buttons at all the wrong moments. But he didn't know if he could possibly win with what he was up against. Truly he was very confident in his machine's capabilities, what with all the work and precise engineering and planning he'd put into it. He'd dropped all the weight that wasn't absolutely necessary. Naburi had been working for years to afford the parts that he wanted for his car, and was notorious among his friends for not skimping on any performance parts. He always got the top-tier product, and never made any sacrifices when it came to modifications. He spent months on his engine alone, replacing the internals, reconstructing it from the ground up, raising the compression, lightening the valve train, installing all-forged parts made of exotic lightweight metals that were hard to come by, re-engineering everything that could possibly make his engine push just that little bit harder. He maximized cooling while making the system lighter than stock, got rid of everything he didn't need. Therein, there was a removable passenger seat that wasn't normally in the car. He had a carbon-fiber hood and trunk installed, along with full-fiberglass body panels installed, full plexiglass window replacement, aluminum doors, a carbon-fiber bucket racing seat, a seven-point chassis-reinforcement made of chromium-molybdenum hollow tubing, and so much more. His suspension alone on the car was worth almost an entire year's work. His dashboard looked more like something you would expect in formula one. In all, he'd dropped almost a thousand pounds off of the original weight of the car, and increased the power almost twofold to nearly 370HP, and coming in a car that barely weighted 2300 pounds, his car was very high up there. Add that to the obsessive track practices that he went to religiously on a weekly basis, and he stood as a highly formidable competitor. His 0-60 time came in roughly at about 3.3 seconds, and his 0-100 time only took 5.5 seconds. He personally thought that he'd definitely done right by his car. It was intrinsically balanced, used all high-quality parts, and best of all, he knew everything that went into his car, and was well versed in working on it at this point. He knew what his baby was telling him as she spoke, and he communicated back to her through the pedals, the gearshift, and the steering wheel.

Still, even with all this confidence-inspiring factual knowledge of his own machine, it did nothing to settle his mind. As he watched the lights for the cross-traffic start to transition, he blipped the throttle a little bit, coercing his mind to slip into race mode so that he could concentrate on the driving test that lay ahead of him. He shot a quick glance at his instrument panel. Everything was still within spec, so he feathered the throttle until his engine was singing above idle, ready to pounce off the line as soon as the light changed. As he watch the cross light turn red, he heard higurashi raise his throttle in anticipation of the light. Sakuda shot his eyes back in front of him, keeping the stoplight in his peripherals as he looked at the layout of traffic ahead of him.

**The rules are simple. You both start off on the same line. Whoever is ahead in the first ¼ mile is the one who leads the race and must attempt to lose the other driver. After that point, the second driver must overtake the leading driver and then attempt to lose the now trailing driver. Until the car currently in the lead loses the trailing car, the race continues.**

The light turned. Sakuda dumped the clutch as he had been practicing for almost three years now, feathering the throttle to let the rear tires regain the grip he ripped them from upon takeoff. He heard rather than saw Higurashi perform the same thing. Sakuda shifted to second. What with his race-quality aluminum transmission and personally-fabricated gearset, he was able to take full advantage of his engine's 366 dyno-tested ponies screaming down the asphalt. He listened to his girl raise her voice and sing to him in the special harmonic language she'd serenaded him with for so long. But right now he couldn't fully enjoy the cacophony of sounds that his engine made, or what they meant. Right now all he was worried about was what exactly she was saying to him, so that he could act accordingly. He shifted to third. He noticed that he was shifting much quicker than he'd normally done, and apparently it was paying off so far, as he couldn't see Higurashi in his peripherals. He waited until she sang her precursory note, then shifted to fourth. Just as a precursory check, he looked behind him in the rear-view, and saw something that he never thought he'd see.

Back behind him about 150 feet or so was Higurashi. Apparently he'd gotten a pretty bad start, and was now playing a game of catch-up, of which he wasn't doing very well in. As Sakura rounded the next hill, he shot down in fifth gear, weaving through traffic as if it was standing still, no tires screeching, just great driving. And as he snuck a slight peek behind him, he could see that Higurashi wasn't getting any closer… actually, if Sakuda could call it, he'd say that Higurashi was losing ground the further they went into traffic. Near the end of the hill was a corner which looked just like the hilled corner back at Suzuka. And, looking ahead, he saw a gap in traffic, and, with the way the light s were changing, if he charged at just the right moment, he'd be able to pull a maneuver that would catapult him much farther than higurashi could hope to make up. As Sakuda came upon the corner, he watched the lights. He couldn't believe it. He'd hit the sweet spot, just as he'd hoped he would. He downshifted, double-clutching the transmission in a mad frenzy of hammer strikes on his pedals in a memorized rhythm. He weaved his car slightly to the left, upsetting the balance slightly as he popped the clutch in and simultaneously tapped his parking brake just enough to loosen the rear wheels and swing them out to his side. Before they could once again gain traction, he double-clutched, and was rev-matching to let the clutch back out. As soon as the friction place started gripping, he let loose on the throttle, letting the car sing up to a high rpm and light up the rear wheels in a way that caused him to navigate the corner in so that he was going completely sideways, wide-open-throttle, all four tires sliding, allowing him to just miss the guardrail that adorned the inside of the driving lane he slid into. As he let the drift fall out, he upshifted and sped off, exhilarated that he was able to pull off that move in a real-life setting. As he sped off towards the next set of lights, he looked behind him. Higurashi was nowhere to be seen. He couldn't believe his luck. He'd actually obliterated Higurashi in such an indisputable way that he couldn't help but be just a little happy about his accomplishment. _Just wait until we see each other back at class. He's gonna be so pissed!_ With that thought in mind, Sakuda eased off of the gas and coasted back down to traffic speedsto make a stop at the next light, which had just turned red, and let his car sit there and cool down from the high-speed run she'd just undertaken. When the light turned green, he moved on, catching a glimpse of his gage cluster as he crossed the intersection. Noting that his fuel level was a bit lower than he'd have liked, he decided that while he was in the area, he'd go get some fuel while he was still able. He then drove for about fifteen minutes to the GS gas station that he was familiar with, and knew that they sold high-quality fuel at a reasonable price. As he topped off, he glanced back over at his machine, taking in her beauty once again. Finally she was at the level that he'd imagined her at all those years ago when he'd originally bought her, and she looked better than he'd imagined she would. The fuel nozzle clicked, indicating that his tank was full. He then walked the short distance to the building where he paid the cashier and set off back to his car. Taking a quick glance around him as he opened his door, he noticed a white S13 parked in the maintenance bay back in the corner. Thinking nothing of it, he fired up his car, released the parking brake, and rolled out on his way towards home.

As he passed through the business district, he began to notice that there was a car following him at a discreet distance. Wondering what was going on, he waited until traffic cleared up enough for him to chance a look back. The car that had been following had chosen exactly the right moment to sneak up on him and position itself directly behind him. He then noticed what car it was. It was that damned blood red machine which meant - Higurashi. Yup, no mistaking that color scheme. Not sure what was going on, or how sore of a loser he might be, he waited patiently until there was a nice break in traffic, and flitted in to the next lane over, meandering into the far lane, putting as much distance as possible between him and the quite possibly angry Higurashi. Deciding to lose him there and then, he took a left onto a side street and took the street for a mile or two, poking back out into main traffic. Believing that he'd lost him he continued onwards. But even as he came ever closer to his sanctuary, he couldn't get rid of this nagging feeling that something was terribly wrong. That was when he noticed something that made his hair spike up just a little bit. As he looked in his rear-view, he saw Higurashi's car start to merge into traffic one street over from where he was, obviously searching for Sakuda… _But what for? I defeated him soundly and fairly… what could he possibly want to do with me now?_ Sakuda thought. He decided that for the time being, he'd just stay where he was and move with traffic, to see what Higurashi would do. It didn't take long for Higurashi to make his intentions known very clearly. Suddenly, and without warning, Higurashi rushed Sakuda's car with his own, most likely in an attempt to damage his vehicle. Luckily for Sakuda, the light had just turned green, and as such, Sakuda had ripped out of the intersection, swinging his rear out as he made the impromptu left turn in a successful attempt to avoid the impending collision. Higurashi's car then overshot the turn, almost hitting the center median, but continued on its pursuit of Sakuda. At this point, Sakuda had thrown out all attempts at trying to drive normally, or even in the general direction of his home. At this point he was thankful that he'd spent that summer's earnings on a racing school, where he'd learned to handle a situation somewhat similar to this. However, that didn't make him feel any better about what may lay ahead of him. He looked further ahead, trying to gauge some sort of escape route so that he could stop this crazy chase and get home in one piece. He kept his car going forward, even chancing a yellow light at an intersection. But then he looked behind him. The light was red. Higurashi was still racing through the intersection. This new piece of information had Sakuda worried. If Higurashi was desperate enough to hit him that he'd chance run-ins with the traffic around him, then this situation Sakuda was in had just become much more severe than what he'd hoped for. Sakuda decided to take the next right and hope to hell that there was no great amount of traffic or a red light. Those would spell catastrophe for him and his car. Now, Sakuda was not a superficial man; he was well aware of the fact that human life was much more important than his car, which just so happened to be the reasoning for a fair few of the modifications on his car. For instance, the oversized six-piston caliper brakes he put on both front and rear were made to help him stop that much faster for a reason, which worked in tandem with the severe diet his car had gone on. His suspension was ultra responsive, as were his Hoosier race radials he put on. Those meant he could change direction quickly, and avoid others much better than they could avoid him. And right now he needed all the help his modifications were giving him at the moment, because it seemed that Higurashi was on a war path and hell-bent on offing him at the moment.

The left was coming up soon. It was now or never for Sakuda, and as he peered into the turn, he saw that the traffic on the street was low and mostly green lights. He took it, deciding to keep all four wheels gripping as he rounded the corner, having to sew the needle between two oncoming cars, roaring away from the intersection, trying to put as much distance between him and Higurashi. But, it seemed to be to no avail. Higurashi just kept at him, never letting up. And that's when the worst happened. Just a few seconds after Sakuda cleared the intersection, Higurashi entered it, spear-heading into the intersection, but not able to fully clear the oncoming car in his way. He ended up swiping the other car's rear bumper, causing it to spin out of control and careen to the side of the inner median, rubbing its way to a stop moments later. But it seemed that the contact hadn't even fazed Higurashi one bit. He just kept coming. Sakuda knew that now he had to get away from Higurashi or else there was going to be even more casualties from his recklessness, but Naburi couldn't think of any way to get away from him that didn't involve endangering more innocent bystanders. As he ate up the pavement beneath him, he hated himself for the fact that he let this get out of control. But what could he do? He didn't want to get hit, and he didn't want anyone else to get hurt either, but it seemed that it would end up that way. He decided that in order to make this the least threatening to the general populace, he'd need to get this fight out to the country roads, or at the very least a less-densely populated area. So having a decent knowledge of the city, he took the next left turn as soon as it was safe, and roared off towards the city's outskirts. As he looked at the street ahead of him he noticed the street sign for some reason and noticed what street he was on. The sign read **KALUYA AVENUE**. _Kaluya Avenue... why do I remember that street? And why is that important? Ah, I don't have the time to think about that!_ Naburi thought to himself as he continued roaring down the street as quickly as he could given the traffic ahead of him, Higurashi hot on his tail.

Now just for reference, Kaluya avenue is a six-lane highway that runs for almost seventy miles, and through several cities, mostly on the outskirts of said cities. But in one city, it runs directly through its heart, and runs past what some might consider the most important part of the city.

Unfortunately, Naburi was witness to the fact that he wasn't going to make it to the open road without some civilian casualties. Looking back behind him, Higurashi was cutting off traffic and switching lanes with the grace of a limping hippo, overshooting every lane change he made, and even hitting traffic in other lanes, swiping at them, trading paint, and even shocking the drive tires loose from the pavement. In all, so far a grand total of eleven cars had been made victim to Higurashi's loose-cannon rage that had come out of left field, and it looked like there would only be more to come the farther Naburi traveled. At this rate, he needed to get Higurashi out in the open as quickly as possible so that he could be stopped. Unfortunately there was at least another two or so miles of this portion of road before it really opened up, and Naburi was hoping beyond hope that there was little to no traffic between where he was and the end of the city.

This continued for the next mile, Naburi shifting, weaving, dodging, accelerating, shifting again is a complicated dance with both traffic and friction, while Higurashi just charged ahead like the enraged bull he was making himself out to be. The fact that Naburi was on Kaluya Avenue still putting him on edge for reasons unknown to him. _Why the hell can't I get that off of my mind?! What is it about this street that I'm completely forgetting… oh._ As Naburi crested the next slight hill and his car's nose dived down once more, he was finally reminded of why this street was so important, and why it stuck so severely in his head.

And that reason was glaring at him directly in the face with its vastness and sheer size. It stretched for almost a half-mile, and at fourteen stories high, it was a sprawling structure that could be seen for miles away. And below it was what looked like a seething mass of humanity moving in the streets surrounding the giant complex. _Kotsubo General Hospital._ _Oh god, look at all those pedestrians. There's no way no one's gonna get killed with the mindset that Higurashi's got going on inside right now. We need to take a detour now before this becomes a mass vehicular manslaughter thanks to yours truly._ Naburi knew that he needed to turn, and turn quickly, because the closer he got to the hospital, the less distance he had for error. Finally, he found an intersection that would suit both him and Higurashi, so he took it. He swept slightly wide, and made to take the turn.

But he never did. All he felt was the shock of being hit from behind and losing all traction under his car. He watched as his rear swung out farther than he could recover from, and then as his front tires lost traction as well. He was now helpless. All he could do was watch the mass of people grow closer as he barreled down upon them at speeds he was no longer comfortable with, and hope to hell his blaring horn would catch their attention in time. In the middle of his panic he chanced a glance behind him for a spare moment, and saw Higurashi pulling back, slowing down… _Good. At least his bloodlust has been satisfied…_ Naburi thought to himself, looking back towards the mass of people coming towards him too quick to save himself. As he looked back towards the mass of people he realized that slowly but surely his car was slowing down. Hoping beyond hope that his tires would allow him to stop before hitting anyone, he let off the brakes in an attempt to gain traction back and allow the car to slow down quicker. But he hadn't noticed the two pedestrians in the crosswalk two blocks ahead of the mass of people. As his car came closer, he realized that they were the ones he was going to hit. He would be held responsible for their deaths, and he didn't even feel angry at the thought. _It's my fault I'm in this situation anyways…_ He thought to himself as he watched helplessly as his car barreled down towards the two in front of him. And then…

A simultaneous cacaphonyt ofshattering sounds told him all he needed to know as he underwent whiplash from the impact. He'd hit whoever was in the wheelchair. They'd been just heavy enough to help slow his car enough to stop before he hit the mass of people. But at that point, he wasn't even thinking of them. As soon as his car skidded to a stop, he jammed the gearshift into first, cut the engine, and fully engaged the parking brake. He then jumped out of his car, slithering out of his seatbelt, and started running towards the person it seemed he'd missed. He checked up on her, and asked her if she was alright. She said something unintelligible but at least she was able to make words. She'd be fine if he could get her into the hospital ASAP. As he ushered the woman back to the sidewalk, he glanced back at Higurashi. The asshole had his window down, an arrogant smirk on his face and was flipping him the bird. Naburi swore to himself at that moment that he'd get back at him, no matter the cost. But he had to tear his gaze away from him as HIgurashi drove off because he remembered that there were two of them, as he'd remembered. He immediately escorted the woman to the sidewalk, directed her to sit down, and began his search for the person he'd hit. He began to look down the street from where he'd hit her, and within seconds found the busted wheelchair. _Well, there's the chair, but where's the person?_ He thought to himself. He continued his search for the other person but couldn't seem to find her no matter how hard he looked. _I know I'm fucked, but there's no way she went flying that far. There's just no way. I was only going about fifty when she was hit by me, so where the fuck did she go?_ Naburi wondered to himself, flabbergasted at the fact that he couldn't locate the other person. That's when the woman he'd directed went running up to him.

"Sir, sir, you need to stop moving, you're bleeding!" She spoke, her mouth making mumbled jargon as she tried to make the words pass her lips. But Naburi did as he was asked. He stopped his moving, and took a second to look down at himself, and sure enough, there was a piece of plexiglass stuck in his lower right abdomen. _Hmmm, I thought plexiglass was supposed to be shatterproof… can't believe I fell for false advertising.._ Naburi thought to himself in an isolated moment, wondering if he'd gotten haggled out of extra money for nothing. But he couldn't ponder whether that was the case or not, because he chose that exact moment to look up at the building he was facing. And right before him, about twelve feet up was the other person, the one he'd _really_ hit. And she was dangling, stuck through by pieces of rebar that were buried deep within her. Her blood was slowly weeping out of her protrusions, causing a crimson rain to splatter the sidewalk beneath her. However, he noted that her blood wasn't coming out as quickly as he would expect from the wounds she'd just received. He looked closer, the shock of what just happened not entirely hitting him yet. She was still breathing, and from the sound of it, she hadn't pierced either of her lungs, so she wouldn't die of internal suffocation. However, dying of internal bleeding was still very much an option. Thankfully she wasn't conscious, otherwise he knew she'd be screaming bloody murder.

All he could do at that point was stand there, look up at the poor girl, with what looked like her older sister against him, collapsing from shock, and call the hospital to tell them they had three more ICU patients to look after. And wait. Wait for what seemed to be an eternity. Wait for the help that always took just a little too long to arrive. Wait for the poor girl's life to be over, and for her sister to wake up and hate him for killing her little sister the way he did. How did he go from enjoying time with his friends to this, he wondered. But at that point in time, he didn't care, he just had to make sure that these two women before him were at least seen to before he could take any sort of breather…

"… and that's about the sum of it."

Yui was in a state of surprised acceptance. What he said seemed a little farfetched, but it jived with all that she'd learned so far from her other sources. Granted, those sources still left gaping holes in themselves open for scrutiny, but that was to be expected. But it seemed that Sakuda still had more to say.

"I apologize for not seeing it through for you. It's just that I'd seen some pretty serious accidents before, and I came to the conclusion that anything I tried to do for you would only impede any chance of recovery you had; that along with my dwindling hope for your survival made me write you off prematurely. If I'd have known then what I know now I would at least tried to do something to help, but it just seemed that your situation was beyond hopeless as far as I could tell, so I just accepted-"

"No! Don't apologize Mr. Sakuda! You had no way of knowing whether I'd make it out alive or not and you did the best you could for the person you knew you could save! Don't be angry at the fact that you couldn't do any more than what you were capable of." Yui interjected angrily, her demeanor fading into calm the further she spoke. "You did all that you could, and I couldn't ask for more from a complete stranger, so thank you."

After a long moment, Naburi raised his head, a small smile on his face. "You're welcome, Miss Motori. It was my pleasure." He finished, finally feeling his frame loosen up and unwind from revealing his story to her. He watched as the girl waved at the glass on the far side of the room, most likely signaling whoever was inside that she was done with what she'd set out to do here.

No sooner had he finished the thought than a deputy waltzed through the door, gave a nod to miss Yui, and wheeled her out of the interrogation room, the door closing slowly behind her, once again leaving him alone in the dank room once more.

Then, a crackle came in over the speaker in the ceiling, immediately followed by a voice he'd grown accustomed to hearing over the past few days, saying; "You didn't tell her everything, did you?" The voice inquired, curiosity laced evenly in its tone.

Naburi shook his head slowly, a wistful look on his face; "No, I didn't. Besides, there's no need to give out that information anyways. It would only have caused her more trouble than the words were worth," he replied, knowing all too well what would have happened if he'd revealed his entire side of the story to her. "Besides, Mr. Karasuba, you know the probable effects of spreading that information to her specifically. I don't know what would become of me, or of her. I'd rather just keep it to myself just as a memento to keep carrying me forward beyond what's happened."

The voice didn't immediately reply to Sakuda, but within moments, spoke up once more, stating; "Although what you say is true, it would most certainly guarantee the charges against you be dropped, and you could be a free man-"

"Yeah, but what would that teach me, huh?" Sakuda interjected, looking directly at the mirrored wall. "No, I need to go through with this so that I can fully understand the lesson I'm supposed to learn from what's transpired." Naburi dropped his gaze down to his knees, his eyes overcast. "I can't let that go to waste on me, otherwise I'll just end up doing it again, and who knows how many people will get hurt the second time around?"

_Even if what he did wasn't right, it's still hard not to like the guy and respect his resolve to see this through… _Detective Karasuba thought to himself, speaking again; "Fair enough. I guess I'll have to take you back to your cell for the time being until your hearing occurs and we can clear all of this up once and for all." The voice and the static then cut out a moment later, accompanied by the sound of a rush of compressed air escaping an orifice as Naburi could feel the IV attached to his arm inject neuro-suppressants into his bloodstream. As he started to nod off, he let his mind wander, focusing on the information he'd withheld.

**37 HOURS AFTER THE ACCIDENT…**

Blue. Blue with swirls of white and specks of green adorning the edges of his vision. It was all that he could focus on for the time being, his mind being too doped up to make much coherent thought. As far as he was concerned, all he needed to do at that moment was watch the wall unendingly and mentally recap the entire incident over and over again. Besides, what else could he do? He'd lost almost half of his blood reserve from his efforts to help the two women whom he'd hurt, so he had to let his body recuperate. Currently his mind was going through another recap, recalling what had happened when the medical personnel arrived and thereon after.

They'd arrived within four minutes. He'd stood there, holding the woman against him, supporting her as best he could as he felt his lifeblood leave him through his wound, slowly tunneling his vision to the point where he could barely make out the woman beside him. He knew there were people around him trying to help, but in his mind he had one goal; ensure the safety of the woman beside him, and not let her get any more hurt than she already was. By then, he'd all but given up hope for the other girl; by then she'd most likely be too far gone. He wasn't trying to write the girl off before she had a chance to survive… he was just a realist. It wasn't in his nature to believe in things like hope when situations out of his direct control arose. Instead, he chose to believe in his own strength and determination and do what he could about what he himself could control, and accept the outcome of the things that he simply didn't have the ability to affect or change. So at this point, he was doing what he was able to save the person whose outcome was directly dependent upon his actions at that moment. He knew that anything he tried to do to help the other girl would be futile at best, and possibly aggravate whatever injuries she'd accrued from his stupidity even further. So he stood there, with a heavy, lidded gaze and watched as the humanoid shapes moved around him and concentrated around the impaled girl in front of him. Soon enough though he felt both he and the woman start to be escorted towards a waiting ambulance, which was closer than what he'd been counting on. As he saw the outline of the ambulance approaching, he glanced once more at the form of his car off in the near distance. After looking at it for a long moment, he lowered his gaze, slightly saddened at the likely prospect of him never seeing his beloved piece of machinery ever again after all the hours, effort, and care he'd put into it, and how it'd shaped him over the past few years.

But before he could think any further, he was directed into the back of the ambulance alongside the woman, whereupon he took his place on the bench seat next to her prone form. As the rear doors began to close, he directed his gaze to the girl, seeing one last time her limp form, along with the eight or so medical personnel surrounding her, no doubt figuring the best way to relinquish her from the rebar and get her to the hospital. But then the doors fully closed, and his vision finally swam away from him as he faded out of consciousness.

When he next awoke, he wasn't entirely sure of what was going on, but he knew that something was immediately wrong. The instinctive impulse to flee flooded his body as his adrenaline levels spiked at an alarming rate. He could hear an incessant beeping to his right increase its frequency at an irregular rate, along with the bright light that came into focus as his vision cleared. His eyes were open. He was on an operating table, and there was a multitude of people around his abdominal area, and he could feel just a bit _too_ much air on his stomach. He now knew that he'd unintentionally awoken during the middle of a surgical procedure, most likely one to sew up the wound the piece of plexiglass had incurred to him. He soon noticed the hurried movements of the practitioners as they scrambled to get the situation, and also him, under control.

Fortunately Naburi had enough wits about him to will himself to remain still and calm, as he moved his gaze towards the doctor who seemed to be in charge of the procedure. He looked him dead in the eye for a moment or two, noting the flustered expression on the doctor's face, along with the confusion laced underneath. Then, without thinking about the possible repercussions of what he was about to do, he spoke; "Hey doc, chill. I can't feel anything yet, and the anesthetic's still working." Naburi then glanced up and to his right. "You just ran out of sleeper drugs, that's all." He noted, indicating the empty gland package hanging above his head. Returning his gaze to the head practician, he spoke once more: "Just change it out and then I'll go right back to sleep. Don't worry, I'm not going to freak out… I know what'll happen if I do, so don't worry. I promise to be a good boy and stay still while you change it out." Naburi's expression changed suddenly, and he squeezed out; "Just hurry, please? I'm starting to get a little tingle, might feel something soon." With that said, the doctor ordered one of his subordinates to retrieve another gland quickly so that he could resume his operation, which took all of thirty seconds. When the subordinate returned, the doctor quickly swapped out the empty bag with the new full one, and let it sit for a minute as he let it drip to fill the reservoir. Naburi shifted his gaze back to the doctor once the drip rate became constant. "Just give me a few minutes… I'll be back under before you know it…" Naburi said as even then he started to slip from consciousness. His last vision was that of the doctor giving him a half-grin and a thumbs-up. This caused Naburi to smile just as he let the gentle tendrils of drowsiness coax him back to the still darkness of dreamless sleep.

His next conscious moment occurred in a room that didn't quite seem like what a hospital room should look like. It's not that it wasn't clean or anything, it's just that it didn't give off the _sterile_ air that most hospital rooms gave off. It seemed much more homey that any other room he'd been in, so it was nice, comforting even. Of course, he hadn't yet noticed the man standing off in the corner who'd been patiently waiting for him to arise from his slumber. However, that was about to change rather soon.

"Hmmm-hmmm." The other man cleared his throat, attempting to get Sakuda's attention. Sakuda immediately chased the sound with his gaze, finally settling on the man who was slowly advancing towards him. Naburi made a quick assessment of the man approaching him. His demeanor was authoritative, but not menacing or aggressive. He took note of this as he watched him come closer before the man spoke once again.

"Mr. Sakuda, correct?" the other man spoke, an inquisitive glance splaying across his features. Naburi nodded in affirmation, wondering what the man wished to speak. The man continued; "Pleased to make your acquaintance. I'm Karasuba Toji, Chief of Police of Shibukawa. I know that you're still recovering from the incident yesterday afternoon, but I need to build a case for what happened, and I need to know what happened; at least your viewpoint if nothing else." Before the officer could ask further, Sakuda interjected, asking; "Are the two women alright? Did either of them make it?" He asked, and urgent fervor making itself blatantly apparent in his tone and the way his posture suddenly changed.

_So he does care…_ Karasuba noted, filing the young man's genuine concern for further review at a later time. But right now he needed information and answers he could only get from the recovering patient in front of him.

Sure, Toji had seen the tapes from all the cameras posted on every street corner, and compiled all the digital excerpts into one free-flowing continuous feed that gave him a good picture of all the action that occurred during Sakuda's high-speed spectacle from two days prior. And, to be honest, the chief had been very impressed with the young man sitting in front of him (although he could never publicly say it due to the issues of legality concerning the circumstances of Sakuda's driving). He'd seen good driving, great driving even; after all, he'd been on the force for the better part of seventeen years, so he'd seen his fair share of capable getaway drivers. But none of them could seem to hold a candle to this kid. And it seemed that no one else at the office was able to pick up on that. All they saw was another teenager too big for his pants wanting to show off in traffic.

But Toji saw something else entirely. He'd noticed the subtleties as soon as he'd compiled the tapes together and watched the chase in its entirety. The kid was doing something that no other runaway driver had ever done; _he'd been careful._ No, it didn't seem like much to someone who didn't know what they were looking at, but he knew better. The way the kid moved through traffic, reacting almost instantly to changes in traffic at distances which at times were greater than a half mile ahead of him, and always finding a way to just miss the traffic around him, and always maximize the distance between him and others around him as he weaved back and forth. That along with almost instinctual way that he knew what traffic was going to look like before he'd even take the turns at speeds that he always barely made work for him. It seemed more like a dance than a wild scramble at the edge of his seat, like an art form. The kid was just too good. As Toji had started repeating the tapes, he noticed that the kid was always taking avenues and roads that were well known for sparse traffic, and maximizing distance between himself and the traffic around him. But after finishing his analysis of Sakuda's driving prowess, he turned his attentions to the other driver in the films, and immediately became concerned. This other driver seemed to be in a completely opposite mindset than Sakuda had been. It seemed to Toji that this driver saw surrounding traffic as objects to deplete his excess aggression out upon as he chased towards Sakuda, and heaven help them if he got in his way. As he rewatched the ending of the tape, he noticed there was a three second lapse in the tape as the two cars crossed a downhill intersection between where the red car was chasing the white one and the point where the two had separated, and the white car was careening uncontrollably towards the two women who had just entered the crosswalk a block and a half in front of the white car. Looking back at the red car, he had public works trace the car through the camera system until it reached the city limits. The car: a blood-red Mitsubishi LanEvo late-model. And it wasn't wearing a license plate, so he couldn't run the plates, and what with the tinted windows and the limited resolution capabilities of the public cameras, there was no way to identify the car or its driver. But what he really wanted to know was what caused Sakuda to completely lose his car when up till that point he'd been doing an incredible job directing it wherever he needed to go.

"Yes, actually. It's incredible, really. The woman whom you were clinging so desperately to sustained pretty minor injuries, her worst being slight head trauma and some deep bruises along her body with relatively shallow cuts where she suffered some road rash. But what's really incredible is that the other girl actually survived the impact." Sakuda was staring at him open-mouthed, seemingly in open shock. _Seems he'd all but written her off as a lost cause as well…_ Karasuba thought as he continued. "Yes, somehow her injuries suffered from hitting the rebar wasn't as severe as initially anticipated. The iminent cause for concern at the time was that she'd been hit in the spinal column."

"Oh. So I caused her paralysis. Heh, great." Sakuda's gaze fell, and his demeanor took a turn south. It would seem to Karasuba that this little bit of information was hurting the boy severely. But Karasuba needed to see the boy's genuine reaction so that he could draw his own conclusions without the interference of the hospital or the rest of his precinct for that matter. He knew that his method at the moment could get him in trouble with the courts if he ever took the case there, but this was something he needed to do uninterrupted before he could fully make a case before the judiciary.

Meanwhile, on the bed, Sakuda was reeling from the impact of what he'd done and the consequences he'd have to live with. At first he was afraid that he'd killed the poor girl on contact. At least then he would be able to fully deal with whatever consequences came about once this whole situation was resolved and taken to court. But now knowing that he'd not only not killed her, but caused paralysis in her was something that he attributed to a fate worse than a quick death from brute force trauma. Now she'd have to live the rest of her life in a limited state, always reminded of what she used to be able to do, always long for more, even though she would forever be unable to do anything about it. She'd be set back farther in life, and it wasn't her fault. No, it was most certainly his, and now he was going to have to face the brunt of both her and the other woman's scrutiny. His world's bleakness seemed directly proportional to how much thought he put into his current situation. He was beginning to accept the fact that he was screwed, and was finally giving himself over to temporary depression when Karasuba dropped a bomb on him that made him pause all thought momentarily.

"I'm afraid that's where you're wrong, Mr. Sakuda. You did nothing of the sort." Karasuba replied to Sakuda, watching Sakuda's facial expressions to much his own amusement. First Naburi went through a moment of complete shock, seemingly unable to comprehend how what he'd just been told was possible. Then came the confusion. If Karasuba were to guess, Naburi was trying to figure out how in the hell it was possible that he wasn't able to cause paralysis in the girl if his accident was the cause of her impalement on the wall. As the thoughts passed through Naburi's mind, Karasuba was audience to the inadvertent changes that Naburi's face forewent as he fully processed this new information. Inevitably, Naburi's line of thought stopped and he looked at Karasuba with an utterly confused expression on his face.

"How?" was Sakuda's only reply, the helpless expression still prevalent on his features.

Karasuba laughed inwardly as he considered his next move. Should he tell the man the whole story or lead him on and have him come to the conclusion himself? _No, it'd be too cruel to the boy to try having him figure it out for himself. I guess I'll just have to let him in on the rest of the situation._ Raising his gaze back up to Sakuda, he continued.

"Like I said, you didn't cause the girl's paralysis. Now before you ask how that's possible, let me tell you something about Yui Motori. She's actually suffered through an accident very reminiscent of the one you put her through. This was about fifteen years ago, way back when Kaluya Avenue wasn't as expansive as it is now. Funnily enough, both Motori's were heading to somewhere in the district, and coincidentally enough were crossing the avenue when Yui escaped her mother's grasp and ran into the street, ultimately getting hit by a street racer who we've never been able to get our hands on. Funnily enough, it was almost the same scenario as yours. A blood red LanEvo, high speeds, and an accident in the middle of the intersection's crosswalk. Granted, all that happened was that her body got tossed further into the street, but there was severe damage to her spinal column, and she was in intensive care for well over five months before her condition was well enough that she could be released from the hospital. That, added to the relatively recent death of her father at the time lead to some bad times for the Motoris, but it seemed that Yui would make it through all of it with only paralysis ahead of her. Granted, it's nothing to be happy about, but at least she was in good health otherwise. But then you came along and slapped her a second time." Sakuda winced noticeably at his mention. Karasuba continued; "and so we find her stuck through with rebar on a wall. I'll bet you're feeling pretty down right now, aren't you?" Karasuba asked.

Naburi averted his gaze as his jaws clenched uncontrollably, the small tendrils of hurt and rage beginning to crawl into him. In a strained voice he replied; "Yes sir, so could we please move on past the part where you accuse me of ruining her life?" He replied, looking the officer in the eyes once again, a dangerous look being sent in the way of the officer.

Noting the abrupt change in Sakuda's demeanor, he decided it'd be best if he continued with his explanation, and quickly. "Well, that's beside the point. Anyways, after extricating her from the wall, the on-site EMS's noticed that something was off about her body. It seemed to them that she'd been struck in damn near the same place that her back had previously been broken about fifteen years prior. Luckily for us, the EMS's had the supplies and capability to deal with the residual bleeding from all the rebar puncture wounds, and all it seemed that needed to be done was ensure she got the correct treatment for the blunt trauma that she'd received when she first hit the wall. However, it was not all that it seemed to be, since along the way to the hospital, her heart stopped beating, and her brain activity all but dropped to zero. With the new change in her conditions, she was moved into the ICU and had a full team of doctors at her bedside for the next few hours attempting to stabilize her condition to a point that she wasn't on the verge of death anymore. Eventually her condition stabilized and her vital signs returned to normal. They then subjected her body to an MRI scan to determine what other procedures would be required in order to stitch her back up to full health, but they found something they weren't counting on finding. It seemed that the force from the rebar hitting her spinal column caused a shockwave that sent her entire vertebrae into a floating state, requiring realignment. However, this also gave the medical team the opportunity to 'realign' her spinal cord and potentially give her back the mobility that she'd been without for more than a decade. Therein, the medical team went into discussion on whether or not to perform the procedure, came to the conclusion to attempt it, and by god it somehow succeeded. So, for all we know, in some screwed up way you might have just given her her legs back. I guess time will tell, of course."

Naburi didn't know what to say to that. He was shocked that so much effort had been put into stitching up the girl that he'd come so close to destroying, and it had all paid off, and then some, it seemed. Now, as far as he was concerned, he could at least rest without a guilty conscience, and at least come to face what may soon enough. But there was still something bugging him that he wasn't entirely ready to give up on.

"Sir, with all due respect, what happened to my vehicle?" Naburi asked, not trying to pry, but wondering all the same.

Toji immediately know where this was going, and decided to tell the young man enough to quell his curiosity for the time being. "It's been impounded for now, and depending on the verdict of your upcoming trial, may be stripped for parts. However, it could be given a different fate, once again, depending on the verdict of your trial." Toji's ever scrutinizing gaze remained steadfast on Sakuda's face as he waited for his reply.

_Is he saying that I might get a chance to get my car back? Is he serious? _"…And that would be what, exactly?" Sakuda asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"As far as I can tell, it could just be put up for sale once again, and who knows? You might just be the one to own your machine once again. But hey, what do I know about court politics? I'm just a lowly police chief. I'm not privy to that sort of information."

_So there is a chance… I guess we'll have to see the outcome when we get there…_Sakuda thought. He mentally switched gears. "And what about the Motoris'? are they alright? Will they fully pull through?" He asked, wondering not only about the specific's of the girl's condition but that of the other woman as well.

Toji noted this as he answered; "It seems that they will both be recovering rather quickly, and should be out of the hospital relatively soon. I'd stake my guess at sometime within the coming week."

"… And me..?" Naburi asked, apprehensive of what his own outcome might be.

"Well, that's something else entirely. See, what we didn't initially realize was that the Plexiglas shard the impaled you cut through a pretty large body artery, but also blocked most of the bleeding due to its being lodged in place. However, due to your exertions from helping Ms. Motori, you did cause multiple other contusions in the local area of the wound. This led to some complications as the medical staff patched you up. Turns out that you'll have scar tissue in and on your abdomen for the rest of your days, but don't worry; you'll heal up soon enough. But asides from that, be thankful for all the people that donate to the blood drive. According to the lead MD, you're swimming in other people's blood right now, considering how much you lost on the operating table."

"Ungh, well, that's great to know."

"Regardless, you will be in here for a little while longer, considering that you have to restock almost half of your current blood supply before we can release you. On a good note, that shouldn't take too long, so sit tight in that bed and enjoy the view of the shopping district. I hear it's rather nice this time of year." Karasuba turned to leave. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat up a storm with you Mr. Sakuda, but I'm needed elsewhere." Toji reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his business cards, handing it to the youth in front of him, who in turn reached out and took the card from him wordlessly. "If you need to get in contact with me, here's a way for you to reach me. Otherwise, just chill here for the time being until you're released."

"Trust me sir, I'm not going anywhere." Naburi said with a small smile.

Toji returned the expression, remarking; "That's good to hear. Later then."

"Yeah, see you soon." Naburi replied, watching the detective leave the room, feeling a bit more relaxed about his predicament now.

**Elsewhere…**

"…Yo, Hideki, you gonna wake up anytime soon? HELLO! ARE YO- Ouch, damnit!"

Hinata's head shot up as he was violently and loudly pulled from his dream, slightly out of it as he looked around him. Directly in front of him was Rick, with his hands over his nostrils, a slight trickle of bright crimson running between them.

"What, what is it Rick? Oh, what happened to you, catch a good glimpse under someone's skirt or something?" Hinata asked, a cheshire grin forming on his face.

Rick's gaze came crashing down onto Hinata as his eyes burned with rage, exclaiming; "NO, you just head-butted my nose, dick." Rick uncovered his hands, looking at the sloppy red mess that had smothered his palms. "Look what you did."

Hideki snickered as he replied; "Hey, it isn't my fault you decided to place your head his directly above mine as you shouted me awake. Who knows, you could learn from this." Rick rolled his eyes and Hideki started to laugh.

"Oh, yeah laugh all you want but guess who's got all the notes for English that YOU slept through… by the way, did you not get enough sleep last night or what? You were seriously out of it, like possessed, or something." Rick replied, a contemplating look adorning him.

Hideki thought back to the dream he'd been having, wondering if he'd just witnessed a real-life event just then, or if his imagination was just so well-versed that it could come up with something that complex on the spot. Either way, he'd have to dismiss it for now as nothing more than a vivid dream, because he needed those English notes if he was ever going to pass the upcoming mid-terms. "Hey Rick, you wanna hand me those notes you took? I need 'em to study for the mid-terms coming up."

Rick turned to look back at Hinata with an incredulous look on his face. "Are you serious?! After the irreparable damage you've done to my face? Fuck you man, you're paying the medical bill for this before you even set your eyes on my notes… Hey, are you listening to me?"

Hideki looked up from the notebook he'd grabbed, raising his amused gaze to meet the flustered one of Rick's. "What was that, wasn't paying attention. Gotta study this stuff if I wanna pass you know…" That was when Rick noticed that in Hideki's hands was _his_ notebook with _his_ notes in them that Hideki was to pay dearly for in order to see. Rick grumbled as he stomped towards Hideki. "Give me back my notebook you scoundrel!" Hideki's bemused expression never left his face.

"Are you serious? With all that blood on your hands who knows what kind of irreparable damage you could do to your notebook masterpiece. Seriously," Hideki rose up from his chair and dodged Rick's incoming swipe as h danced away from his reach, continuing; "you could mess up all the hard work and effort you've put into this thing." Hideki suddenly became melodramatic as he explained; "And what a waste it would be my friend-"

"GIVE IT BACK!"

"-To have such artwork be destroyed by you own body's putrid pigments; oh what a shame." And with that, Hideki tore off laughing down the hall towards the men's washroom with Rick hot on his tail, the minute bell ringing in their ears.


End file.
